*> ^* ."Jffi I fci ■ V* I 1 ^ 1 # THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Its History, Traditions, Legends and Charms Covering Jefferson, Dodge, Dane, and Rock Counties, Wisconsin, and Winnebago, Stephenson, Boone, Ogle, Lee, White- side, Henry and Rock Island Counties, Illinois +e$— Supervising Editor ROYAL BRUNSON WAY, Ph.D. Professor of American History and Political Science, Beloit College IN THREE ROYAL OCTAVO VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED VOLUME I CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1926 9' w ( FOREWORD The completion of the History of the Rock River Valley, with its array of allied facts and its background of legends, traditions and primitive peoples, is a positive proof that the development of the original plan of the work was based on practical and truthful lines. The natural trend, contours and beauties of the Valley determined its history and its growth, and made it a unity. At the same time, with the coming and the operation of modern American gov- ernment, the political and civil divisions into counties were inevitable, so that the physical Valley was permeated with the spirit and influences of both Wis- consin and Illinois. Recognizing these facts, the history was, in conformity with the initial prospectus, projected along two distinct lines. The general topical chapters indicated how the Rock River Valley was bound together as a whole; the por- tions relating to the twelve counties covered by the work dealt with more local and circumscribed developments. Keeping this plan in mind, the reader will be able to trace the essential facts and features in connection with his home county, and at the same time get a chronological perspective of it in its rela- tion to other sections of the Rock River Valley. He should never form his judgment as to completeness or accuracy of any section or subject in which he is especially interested until he has carefully read both the topical and county chapters which concern him most. In the progress of this work, close and cordial cooperation has been the outstanding feature. However gratifying this fact has been, there are degrees in every form of assistance. Naturally, Dr. R. B. Way, of Beloit College, the supervising editor of the history, is uppermost, and not only his broad scholarship in the historical field, but his patience and cultured personality, have been invaluable as the strenuous labors of the enterprise progressed. Those of our Reference and Advisory Board to whom special credit is also due for assistance in furnishing data — in some cases, which has never been published — and for valuable suggestions and revisions, may be mentioned as follows: Charles L. Fifield, county judge, Janesville; Dr. William A. Maddox, president of Rockford College for Women; Professor L. A. Fulwider, principal of high school, Freeport ; Professor A. J. Brumbaugh, president of Mount Morris Col- lege; George C. Dixon, Dixon; Frank E. Stephens, formerly of Dixon and now of Sycamore; Charles Bent, editor and historian, Morrison; Colonel Charles G. Davis, lawyer, Geneseo; Leo L. Lowe, editor of Star-Courier, Kewanee; P. S. McGlynn, editor of Moline Dispatch; Dr. Gustav A. Andreen, president of Augustana College, Rock Island, and Colonel D. M. King, commandant of Rock Island Arsenal. In the same paragraph with these acknowledgments of assistance from members of our formal Reference and Advisory Board, the publisher desires to thank many others not thus pledged who have volunteered on the contributory force to help the work along. The final result is before the public. THE S J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO. v Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/rockrivervalleyi01wayr CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE LAND AND ITS MAKING THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE VALLEY THE ORIGIN OF THE WATERWAYS OF WISCONSIN AND ILLINOIS THE SOURCES OF THE ROCK RIVER IN WISCONSIN THE FOUR LAKES OF MADISON THE YAHARA THE COURSE OF THE VALLEY IN WISCONSIN WITH ITS GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY THE ROCK RIVER DRAINAGE SYSTEM — THE HIGH BLUFFS AROUND JANESVILLE AND BELOIT BIG HILL NEAR BELOIT — THE PITCH OF THE LAND AND ELEVATION WHERE RIVER LEAVES WISCONSIN THE PECATONICA, SUGAR AND KISHWAUKEE BEAUTIES AND VARIETY OF LAND- SCAPE ALONG RIVER IN ILLINOIS — THE RUGGED OUTCROPS IN ROCKFORD REGION GRANDEURS OF THE VALLEY IN OGLE AND LEE COUNTIES — THE GRAND DETOUR REGION — THE VALLEY FROM OREGON TO DIXON A TRAVELER OF 1836 — MARGARET FULLER'S ENRAPTURED PEN PICTURE OF THE REGION — THE ADVOCACY OF THE SAVING OF THIS SECTION OF THE VALLEY FOR LANDSCAPE LOVERS — THE CREATION OF A STATE PARK — THE WHITE PINE WOODS OF OGLE COUNTY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THEREON — BEAUTIES OF THE ROCK ISLAND SECTION OF THE VALLEY — - BLACK HAWK'S TOWER — VAST STRETCHES OF LANDSCAPE AND WATER VIEWS AT ROCK ISLAND HOW THE VALLEY CAME TO BE — ITS GEOLOGICAL HISTORY 3 CHAPTER II THE PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS OP THE VALLEY ADVANTAGES OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY FOR ABORIGINES — ITS ATTRACTIVENESS — THE GREAT VARIETY OF WILD ANIMALS FISH IN ITS LAKES AND RIVERS — ABUNDANT EVIDENCES OF PREHISTORIC OCCUPANCY— THE INDIAN MOUNDS AND VILLAGES IN THE LAKE DISTRICT ABOUT MADISON — TYPES OF MOUNDS — INDIAN fflTiL AT FULTON, ROCK COUNTY — INDIAN VILLAGES ON LAKE KOSHKONONG THE INDIANS IN AND AROUND MILTON MOUNDS AT AFTON — GROUPS AT BELOIT, ON THE BELOIT COLLEGE CAMPUS, AT JANESVILLE AND IN THE TOWN OF TURTLE CLASSES OF MOUNDS IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY — BIRD AND TURTLE MOUNDS OF ROCKFORD BIRD EFFIGIES BELOW ROCKFORD — PREHISTORIC REMAINS AT OREGON AND NEW ALBANY IN THE LOWER VALLEY MOUNDS IN ROCK ISLAND COUNTY WHO BUILT THE MOUNDS? — THE RED MEN OF THE VALLEY ABORIGINES LINKED WITH THE WISCONSIN TRIBES — BLACK HAWK ON INDIAN LIFE IN THE VALLEY vii viii CONTENTS INDIAN BALL GAME AS DESCRIBED BY CATLIN CRANE DANCE} — INDIAN MIGRATIONS IN THE VALLEY — THE WINNEBAGOES, THE ILLINOIS POTTAWATOMI THE KICK- AI'OOS THE SAUK AND THE FOXES, AND THEIR LONG ALLIANCE — BLACK HAWK'S VILLAGE, ITS LOCATION, DESCRIPTION AND TRAILS LEADING THEREFROM — THE FUR TRADE OF THE SAUK AND FOX INDIANS THE VALLEYS OF THE FOX AND THE ROCK, THE MOST DIRECT ROUTE TO THIS GREAT SAUK VILLAGE — EXPLANATION OF THE CLASH WITH THE WHITES PICTURE OF THE PRIMITP7E INDIAN LIFE. . . .24 CHAPTER III CONTACT AND CLASH OF THE RACES FRENCH CONTACT WITH THE SIOUX AND ILLINOIS JEAN NICOLET AND THE WIN- NEBAGO ALLOUEZ IMPRESSED BY THE ILLINOIS AND POTTAWATOMIE IN CONTACT WITH THE SAUK AND FOXES THE FOXES AS MISCHIEF MAKERS MASSACRE OF THE FOXES AND MASCOUTEN (1712) FOXES BESIEGED AT BUTTE DES MORTS (1716) FOXES STILL BAR THE FRENCH — FRENCH FORM INDIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST THE FOXES — THE FOX MASSACRE OF 1730 KIALA, THE FOX CHIEF, A SCAPEGOAT — SAUK-FOX ALLIANCE CEMENTED — FRANCE AND ENGLAND CLASH IN THE OHIO VALLEY — ILLINOIS COUNTRY REFUSES AID TO PONTIAC CAPTAIN CARVER AND THE SAUK BIRTH AND EARLY MANHOOD OF BLACK HAWK BLACK HAWK TURNS HIS BACK ON AMERICANS SAUK AND FOXES DIVIDED IN FEALTY— THE TREATY OF 1804 STRENGTH OF ILLINOIS INDIANS IN 1809 BLACK HAWK FAILS TO CARRY FORT MADISON BLACK HAWK'S DISAPPOINTMENTS BLACK HAWK AND KEOKUK CONTRASTED THE BATTLE OF CAMPBELL 's ISLAND ZACHARY TAYLOR 's EXPEDITION TURNED BACK INDIAN TREATIES FOLLOWING THE WAR OF 1812 BLACK HAWK CONFIRMS TREATY OF 1804— THE BUILDING OF FORT ARMSTRONG REAL PIONEERS OF THE VALLEY — WEBB 's TRIP DOWN THE VALLEY — THE MAJOR LONG EXPEDITION KEOKUK AND THE SAUK AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN — KEOKUK AGAIN AMERICA 's GOOD INDIAN GENIUS 39 CHAPTER IV BLACK HAWK'S FLITTING SHADOWS WHEN THE WHITES CAME TO SAUKENUK APPEALS TO GOVERNOR REYNOLDS — CALLS TO VOLUNTEERS AND REGULARS STATE MILITIA PROMPTLY RESPOND DIFFICUL- TIES IN ORGANIZATION OF VOLUNTEER ARMY ADVANCE AGAINST BLACK HAWK'S TOWN FOUND DESERTED BURNED BY VOLUNTEERS THE WARRIOR 'S DEFENSE — HE PROCLAIMS POLICY OF NON-RESISTANCE CONFERENCES WITH THE PROPHET — GENERAL GAINES CALLS A COUNCIL AT ROCK ISLAND BLACK HAWK AT FIRST DEFIANT FINALLY SIGNS TREATY OF JUNE 30, 1831 AGREES NEVER TO RECROSS THE MISSISSIPPI GENERAL GAINES AND GOVERNOR REYNOLDS RELIEVE DISTRESS OF BLACK HAWK'S BAND — ARMY OF REGULARS AND VOLUNTEERS DISPERSES BLOODY REPRISALS BETWEEN SAUK AND FOXES, SIOUX AND MENOMINEE BLACK HAWK AND PROPHET FAIL TO WEAN SHABBONA FROM THE UNITED STATES — LAST AT- CONTENTS ix tempt to break keokuk 's power black hawk recrosses the mississippi with his people; encamps below the prophet *s villager — expresses from qenebal atkinson sent back — regulars and volunteers again organized to pursue black hawk collapse of the campaign colonel henry Gratiot's narrow escape — reorganization of the pursuit expedition under general atkinson and governor reynolds colonel zachary taylor in active command of regulars general samuel whiteside brigadier gen- ebal of volunteers — state troops leave heavy baggage behind — set out to overtake black hawk by forced marches — first definite news as to black hawk 's location obtained at dixon 's ferry 81 CHAPTER V BATTLING AND BATTERING BLACK HAWK GOVERNOR REYNOLDS SENDS RANGERS AFTER BLACK HAWK— STILLMAN STARTS FOR OLD MAN'S CREEK, ABOVE DIXON — COMMAND ROUTED BY PART OF BLACK HAWK'S BAND REFUGEES FLEE TO DIXON 's FERRY — ACCOUNT OF DISASTER FROM BOTH INDIAN AND AMERICAN SOURCES SOBERING EFFECT ON VOLUNTEERS AWAIT PROVISIONS FROM FORT ARMSTRONG REUNITED ARMY UNDER GENERAL ATKINSON LEAVES DIXON 's FERRY IN PURSUIT OF BLACK HAWK AND HIS BAND SHABBONA 's SERVICE — THE INDIAN CREEK MASSACRE — CAPTURE OF THE HALL SISTERS — THE MURDER OF ST. VRAIN, INDIAN AGENT AT FORT ARMSTRONG MUSTER-OUT OF VOL- UNTEERS ONE TWENTY-DAY REGIMENT REENLISTS — CAPTAIN SNYDER 's COMPANY AMBUSHED AT KELLOGG 's GROVE — NEW VOLUNTEER ARMY OF THREE THOUSAND FORMED — DISTURBANCES IN LEAD DISTRICT — HEROIC REPULSE OF BLACK HAWK'S WARRIORS FROM APPLE RrVER FORT MAJOR DEMENT 'S SPY BATTALION SURPRISED BY THE SAUK AT KELLOGG 'S GROVE MOST OF THE AMERICANS REACHED THE FORT — SEVERAL MEN AND MANY HORSES KILLED AND WOUNDED— ARMY RE- SUMES ADVANCE UP ROCK RIVER VALLEY — REACHES LAKE KOSHKONONG GOV- ERNOR REYNOLDS LEAVES FOR HOME BLACK HAWK'S CAMP DEFINITELY LOCATED PURSUIT BY HENRY AND DODGE — THE BATTLE OF WISCONSIN HEIGHTS BLACK HAWK CRUSHED AS A WARRIOR — WITH WARRIORS, WOMEN AND CHILDREN CROSSES THE WISCONSIN — JUNCTURE OF REGULARS AND VOLUNTEERS AT HELENA BAT- TLE AND MASSACRE NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE BAD AXE AND ON THE MISSISSIPPI — BLACK HAWK AND SMALL BAND ESCAPE— GENERAL HENRY, THE HERO OF THE WAR — ROBERT ANDERSON MUSTERS OUT TROOPS — CAPTURE OF BLACK HAWK AND THE PROPHET — TREATIES GROWING OUT OF THE WAR — BLACK HAWK AND OTHER SAUK LEADERS TURNED OVER TO KEOKUK — BLACK HAWK AND THE PROPH- ET TOUR THE EAST — THE LAST DAYS OF THE SAUK WARRIOR ON HIS IOWA RESERVATION 110 CHAPTER VI FORERUNNERS OF STABILITY PIONEERS OF PERMANENT OCCUPANCY PIERRE LAPORTE — LASALLIER — STEPHEN MACK THIEBAULT, OR THIEBEAU — BLACK HAWK'S VILLAGE AND WATCH TOWER x CONTENTS GEORGE DAVENPORT THE CLARKS, THE FIRST WHITES ON THE MAINLAND DAVENPORT VS. CLARK A TRAGICALLY LONELY WOMAN— JUDGE J. W. SPENCER DAVENPORT AND HIS TRADE — TRAILS FOR THE LEAD REGIONS RD7AL PIONEER INN KEEPERS — FERRIES AT THE ROCK RrVER CROSSINGS — ISAAC CHAMBERS AND JOHN ANKNEY' — ENTER THE SUBSTANTIAL JOHN DIXON THE FAMOUS DIXON HOME SCOTT VISITS FATHER DIXON 137 CHAPTER VII COUNTIES ORGANIZED AND STABILIZED NORTHERN ILLINOIS BOUNDARY GREAT POLITICAL DISTURBANCE — POLITICAL EVOLU- TION OF THE ILLINOIS ROCK RrVER VALLEY THE BUFFALO GROVE PRECINCT OGLE COUNTY FORMED RP7ALRY BETWEEN DIXON AND OREGON THE FIRST ROCK ISLAND COUNTY CREATION OF OLD WINNEBAGO COUNTY THREE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS — LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION WHITESIDE COUNTY IN THE FORM- ING LIVELY COUNTY SEAT CONTEST IN WHITESIDE — OLD AND NEW HENRY COUNTY COUNTY SEAT CONTESTANTS — CARVING OF BOONE COUNTY FROM WIN- NEBAGO THE COUNTY NEVER HAD A COUNTY SEAT FIGHT BELVIDERE AND THE COUNTY BUILDINGS — LEE COUNTY, LAST POLITICAL DIVISION OF THE VALLEY — DIXON LOCATED AS THE COUNTY SEAT — LAND OFFICE MOVED FROM GALENA TO DIXON COMMISSIONERS' GOVERNMENT ABANDONED IN ILLINOIS — ROCK COUNTY, WISCONSIN, FORMED — JEFFERSON COUNTY FORMED IN 1836 — DODGE COUNTY ALSO TAKEN FROM MILWAUKEE MADISON, THE TERRITORIAL CAPITAL FOUNDED THE COUNTY OF DANE CREATED 155 CHAPTER VIII POLITICS PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR THE BLACK HAWK WAR AND POLITICS DEMOCRATS FATHER THE CONVENTION SYS- TEM — THE VAN BUREN LEGISLATURE OF 1836— ILLINOIS, THE STATE CHAMPION OF RAILROADS — SUSPENSION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS — ILLINOIS CENTRAL LINE IN THE UPPER ROCK RIVER VALLEY COLLAPSE OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT SYS- TEM — POLITICS INVOLVED — ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL AND THE SECOND ILLI- NOIS CENTRAL THE NOTED CAMPAIGN OF 1840 UPPER ROCK RIVER VALLEY OF ILLINOIS STRONGLY WHIG THE CAMPAIGN IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY WHIG CON- VENTION AT DLXON'S FERRY ANTI-DEMOCRATIC SENTIMENT IN OGLE COUNTY HOW JUDGE FORD OF OREGON BECAME GOVERNOR SPURNS REPUDIATION— WHAT THE FORD ADMINISTRATION ACCOMPLISHED THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1847 DELEGATION FROM THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY- — JOHN DEMENT, OF LEE COUNTY TAYLOR FIRST PROPOSED FOR PRESIDENT BY LEE COUNTY WHIGS CON- GRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM ROCK RrVER VALLEY LEGISLATIVE REDIS- TRICTING OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY EXTENSION IN ILLINOIS — ORIGIN OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY — E. B. WASHBURNE FIRST REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CAN- DIDATE — NORTHERN ILLINOIS GROWING IN POLITICAL INFLUENCE REAL BIRTH OF REPUBLICANISM EDITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM ROCK RP7ER VALLEY THE CONTENTS xi BU)OMINGTON CONVENTION ROCK ISLAND COUNTY HOTBED OF ABOLITIONISM T1IK CAMPAIGN OF 1856 LINCOLN IN OGLE COUNTY — THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES OF 1858 — THE MEETING AT FREEPORT — THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860 — THE POLITICS OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN ROCK COUNTY, A WHIG AND REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD — CHFEF JUSTICE WHITON AND THE GLOVER DECISION FIRST REPUB- LICAN CONVENTION IN JANESVILLE — DANE COUNTY OVERSHADOWED BY STATE POLITICS — POLITICAL DODGE COUNTY AND ITS LEADERS DEMOCRATIC JEFFERSON COUNTY 179 CHAPTER IX THE TIES THAT BIND MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION EARLY STEAMBOATS AND FERRIES - — THE MILWAUKEE & ROCK RIVER CANAL PIONEER RAILROAD OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE GALENA & CHICAGO UNION ITS LIFE SAVED BY COUNTIES OF THE UPPER VALLEY FOUNDATION LAID OF THE CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN SYS- TEM EXTENSION OF LINES FROM MILWAUKEE INTO SOUTHERN WISCONSIN — DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL EXCITING ADVENT OF THE MILWAUKEE LINE INTO ROCKFORD THE CHICAGO & ROCK ISLAND REACHES THE MISSISSIPPI, THROUGH THE LOWER VALLEY THROWS FIRST BRIDGE ACROSS THE FATHER OF WATERS BECOMES THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC THE BURLINCTON ROUTE IN THE UPPER ROCK RIVER VALLEY ITS STERLING BRANCH TO ROCK ISLAND THE FREEPORT DIVISION OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL THE TRI- CITY BRIDGES AND STREET RAILWAYS — EARLY NAVIGATION OF THE ROCK RrVER IN WINNEBAGO, OGLE AND LEE COUNTIES — PROPOSED SHIP CANAL FROM LAKE MICH- IGAN TO THE WATERS OF THE UPPER ROCK — THE ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL AS A GREAT CHICAGO FEEDER — THE ERA OF PLANK ROADS THE HENNEPIN CANAL AS A CUT-OFF TO THE MISSISSIPPI LARGELY AN ENTERPRISE OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY — OPENED TO THE PUBLIC IN 1907 — EXTENSION OF HARD-SURFACED ROADS THE TIES THAT BIND THE VALLEY TAPPED BY LINES OF ELECTRIC CARS AND AUTOS 218 CHAPTER X THE RICHES OF THE SOIL THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY, A HORN OF PLENTY — DEVELOPMENTAL AGENCIES WISCON- SIN'S ENCOURAGEMENT OF STATE FAIRS — AGRICULTURAL WEALTH OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY GREAT CROPS OF CORN, OATS AND FODDER — THE LIVE STOCK OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY — SOUTHERN WISCONSIN AS THE RICHEST DAIRY COUN- TRY IN THE WORLD — HISTORY OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRIES — RECLAMATION OF ILLINOIS OVERFLOWED LANDS — THE INLET SWAMP PROJECT ATTEMPT TO RE- STORE HORICON MARSH TO THE WAYS OF NATURE 240 xii CONTENTS CHAPTER XI INDUSTRIES AND BANKS THE INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH OF THE ROCK RIVER COUNTIES AND CITIES — FIRST EXTEN- SIVE WATER POWER DEVELOPMENT AT ROCKFORD — THE MANUFACTORIES OF ROCK- FORD AND DIXON ROCK ISLAND AND ITS INDUSTRIAL PLANTS THE FAMOUS PLOW CITY THE FIRST WOOLEN, PAPER AND COTTON MILLS ESTABLISHED IN SOUTH- ERN WISCONSIN INDUSTRIES OF BELVIDERE, STERLING AND ROCK FALLS — KE- WANEE, FREEPORT AND ROCHELLE — STATUS OF THE BANKS IN ILLINOIS AND WIS- CONSIN THE PIONEER INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY PRESENT CON- DITION OF NATIONAL AND STATE BANKS IN DODGE, ROCK, DANE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES, WISCONSIN, AND WLNNEBAGO, STEPHENSON, BOONE, OGLE, LEE, WHITE- SIDE, HENRY, AND ROCK ISLAND COUNTIES, ILLINOIS 255 CHAPTER XII BENCH AND BAR OF THE VALLEY THE JUDICIARY OF ILLINOIS MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COURT FROM THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY FLOYD E. THOMPSON, JAMES H. CARTWRIGHT AND THOMAS FORD THE CIRCUIT COURTS AND JUDGES — ALLEN C. FULLER AND CHARLES E. FULLER OF BELVIDERE — THE WISCONSIN JUDICIARY- — EDWARD V. WHITON, OF JANESVILLE HARLOW S. ORTON AND SILAS U. PINNEY, OF MADISON JOHN B. CASSODAY, ALSO OF JANESVILLE — BURR W. JONES, OF DANE COUNTY HERMAN L. EKERN, ATTOR- NEY GENERAL, OF MADISON THE LATE ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE, THE WISCONSIN SENATOR WILLIAM F. VILAS, ALSO A NATIONAL CHARACTER — MATTHEW H. CAR- PENTER JANESVILLE AND ROCKFORD, THE HOME TOWNS OF FOUR PIONEER WOM- EN LAWYERS OTHER NOTED FIGURES OF ROCK COUNTY AND THE TWELFTH CIR- CUIT — JUDGE GEORGE GRIMM ON "JUDICIAL CONCILIATION" — CIRCUIT JUDGES OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY- — THOMAS C. BROWNE, BENJAMIN R. SHELDON AND WIL- LIAM BROWN JOSEPH M. BAILEY, OF FREEPORT, JOHN V. EUSTACE, OF DIXON, JAMES H. CARTWRIGHT, OF OREGON, AND OTHERS SELDEN M. CHURCH, PIONEER AND FIRST COUNTY JUDGE, OF ROCKFORD THE BAR OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY — CHRISTOPHER M. BRAZEE, WILLIAM LATHROP, JAMES L. LOOP AND OTHERS GEN- ERAL STEPHEN A. HURLBUT, WAR ATTORNEY GENERAL, OF BELVIDERE — THE BAR OF OGLE COUNTY THOMAS FORD AND EDWARD S. LELAND, PIONEER LAWYERS FAMOUS TRIAL AT DIXON OF THE BANDITTI OF THE PRAIRIES JUDGE THOMAS FORD PRESIDES OVER THE COURT — ONE OF THE STRANGE TRIALS OF HISTORY— LEE COUNTY JUDGES AND LAWYERS — EDWARD SOUTHWICK AND OTHER PIONEER ATTOR- NEYS PROMINENCE OF COUNTY IN FURNISHING CIRCUIT JUDGES — SHERWOOD DIXON, THE FOUNDER OF FAMOUS LAW FIRMS — JAMES M ' COY, LONG NESTOR OF WHITESIDE BAR — FRANK E. ANDREWS, FATHER OF THE HENNEPIN CANAL FEEDER HENRY COUNTY BENCH AND BAR GENERAL JOHN H. HOWE — THE NOTED BISHOP HILL MURDER — ROCK ISLAND COUNTY ITS CIRCUIT JUDGES AND LEADING ATTOR- NEYS — J. WILSON DRURY AND WILLIAM A. MEESE — THE MURDER OF COLONEL GEORGE DAVENPORT — THREE OF THE OUTLAWS PUBLICLY HUNG FIRST PRIVATE CONTENTS xiii KXl.< I TION IN BOCK BLAND COUNTY OTHER CASES AND CRIMES TRIALS OF HOCK BLAND VICE GANG 275 CHAPTER XIII EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS TIIK FOUNDATION OF THE WISCONSIN SYSTEM ITS STATE UNIVERSITY — FIRST SCHOOLS IN MADISON — EDUCATION IN JEFFERSON, FORT ATKINSON AND WATER- TOW \ THE NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE AND JEFFERSON INSTITUTE — BEAVER DAM, WAUPUN AND OTHER DODGE COUNTY CITIES AND TOWNS — J ANESVILLE AND BELOIT AS EDUCATIONAL CENTERS OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN FREE ACADEMY AND WIS- CONSIN SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AT JANESVILLE — BELOIT COLLEGE AND THE ROCKFORD FEMALE SEMINARY ROCKFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN THE ILLINOIS SCHOOL FUNDS AND SYSTEM OF FREE SCHOOLS— NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOREMOST IX FOUNDING IT — THE SCHOOLS OF ROCKFORD FIRST CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY THE PIONEER SCHOOLS OF BELVIDERE — NEW- TON ACADEMY' — WOMEN SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS — FREEPORT AND STEPH- ENSON COUNTY INSTITUTIONS HISTORY OF THE ROCK RIVER SEMINARY AND MOUNT MORRIS COLLEGE — EARLY PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF OGLE COUNTY — FIRST TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS IN LEE COUNTY DIXON COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE AND LEE CENTER ACADEMY WHITESIDE COUNTY TEACHERS AND INSTITUTES — ■ HENRY COUNTY AND ITS COLONIES — EARLY EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN MOLINE AND ROCK ISLAND — PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS AUGUSTANA COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, HOCK ISLAND 306 CHAPTER XIV THE CHURCHES OF THE VALLEY liberal beliefs in the upper section — early churches in rock county — madison a natural religious center — first religious services and churches at the capital, — rev. moses ordway comes to beaver dam socie- ties and churches formed there, as well as at horicon and juneau — st. Bernard's catholic church at watertown — metiiodists, Presbyterians wd other protestants establish themselves st. lawrence catholic church of jefferson orthodox churches and the untversalists the methodists organize first in winnebago county first parsonage in rock river conference} — the morrills of rockford and congregationalism the liberal second congregational church second pastor a cousin of ralph waldo emerson the first baptist church and revivalist jacob kxapp — the episcopalians, unitarians, univeksalists, catholics and luth- erans — rockford a catholic diocese — first baptist church of belvidere — pioneer organization west of chicago dr. john s. king and professor set 1 1 s. whitman the presbyterians, metiiodists, universalists and disciples of christ at the county seat of boone — missionary work of xiv CONTENTS REV. ARATUS KENT IN STEPHENSON COUNTY AND NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS — FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF FREEPORT — OTHER DENOMINATIONAL WORK ARATUS KENT HOLDS FIRST RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN OGLE COUNTY PIONEER CON- GREGATIONALISTS OF GRAND DETOUR — METHODISTS ORGANIZE FIRST IN OREGON REV. BARTON CARTWRIGHT — REV. N. J. STROH, THE VENERABLE FATHER OF LUTH- ERANISM RUSH OF MISSIONARIES TO INLET, LEE COUNTY, EARLY CENTER OF CRIMEi — PIONEER METHODISTS TO LABOR IN THE DIXON CIRCUIT THE ROCK RIVER ASSEMBLY — OTHER CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN WHITESIDE • COUNTY FIRST HELD AT PROPHETSTOWN BY METHODIST MISSIONARY CHURCHES FORMED AT LYNDON, STERLING AND OTHER PLACES IN COUNTY — METHODISTS ORGANIZE IN HANNA TOWNSHIP, HENRY COUNTY THE OLD ROCK RIVER CHAPEL THE WETHERSFIELD COLONY — OVERFLOW OF ITS CHURCHES INTO KEWANEE — CHURCHES OF ROCK ISLAND AND MOLINE SPLIT ALONG RACIAL LINES GERMANS AND SWEDES ORGANIZE SEPARATE SOCIETIES SWEDISH BAPTIST AND METHODIST CHURCHES UNIQUE IN SECTARIAN HISTORY FIRST RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN ROCK RIVER VALLEY HELD AT FORT ARMSTONG THE PRESBYTERIANS, METHODISTS, BAP- TISTS, LUTHERANS AND CATHOLICS OF ROCK ISLAND REV. FATHER JOHN G. ALLEMAN AND HIS FAITHFUL MISSIONARY WORK IN ROCK ISLAND COUNTY THE CHURCHES IN MOLINE: ROCK RIVER VALLEY ALTOGETHER A FERTILE FIELD IN THE UPRAISING OF MORAL AND SPIRITUAL FORCES 323 CHAPTER XV THE PRESS OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY NEWSPAPERS TYPICAL OF THE PEOPLE THE PRESS OF MADISON THE WISCONSIN ENQUIRER — JOSLAH A. NOONAN AND GEORGE HYER — MADISON EXPRESS AND WIS- CONSIN STATE JOURNAL DAVID ATWOOD, SO LONG VENERABLE FATHER OF THE WISCONSIN PRESS OTHER MADISON NEWSPAPERS THE FOUNDING AND PROGRESS OF THE JANESVILLE GAZETTE — THE BELOIT FREE PRESS PIONEER COLLEGE PUB- LICATION, THE ROUND TABLE — THE WATERTOWN RECORDER — THE ANZEIGER OF WATERTOWN BRINGS OUT CARL SCHURZ, THE FAMOUS GERMAN-AMERICAN TO-BE DER VOLKSZEITUNG FOUNDED THE JEFFERSON BANNER — WISCONSIN CHIEF, FORT ATKINSON, ONE OF THE FIRST TEMPERANCE PAPERS ISSUED IN WISCONSIN NEWSPAPERS OF BEAVER DAM, HORICON AND OTHER DODGE COUNTY TOWNS OTHER CURRENT PUBLICATIONS OF DODGE, JEFFERSON, ROCK AND DANE COUNTIES, WIS. TWO OF ROCKFORD'S PIONEER NEWSPAPERS WRECKED BIRTH AND GROWTH OF THE REGISTER-GAZETTE — THE ROCKFORD MORNING STAR AND J. STANLEY BROWNE HOW THE FREEPORT JOURNAL-STANDARD CAME TO EXIST EMANUEL AND JONATHAN KNODLE FOUND THE ROCK RIVER REGISTER AT MOUNT MORRIS MOVED TO THE MORE PROMISING GRAND DETOUR — MOUNT MORRIS GAZETTE TRANS- FERRED TO OREGON STEPS TAKEN BEFORE THE INDEX WAS FOUNDED PRINTING AND PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE KABLE BROTHERS NEWSPAPERS OF POLO THE REPORTER AND REPUBLICAN OF OREGON ROCHELLE PRESS ESTABLISHED AT THE OLD TOWN OF LANE — THE BELVIDERE NEWSPAPERS THE NORTHWESTERN AND REPUBLICAN — THE DIXON TELEGRAPH AND OTHER PAPERS IN LEE COUNTY — WHITESIDE COUNTY'S FIRST NEWSPAPER, THE INVESTIGATOR, NOW THE FULTON CONTENTS xv JOURNAL ALBANY REVIEW — THE STERLING GAZETTE — THE WHITESIDE SENTINEL AND CHARLES BENT — THE TAMPICO TORNADO — THE ECHO, OP PROPHETSTOWN KEWANEE NEWSPAPERS AND THE STAR-COURIER — TOE GENESEO REPUBLICAN AND CAMBRIDGE CHRONICLE ROCK ISLAND NEWSPAPERS THE FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ROCK ISLAND BANNER AND STEPHENSON GAZETTE THE UPPER MISSISS1PPIAN AND ADVERTISER — THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS AND UNION — SWEDISH-AMERJCAN NEWSPAPERS — ORGANS OF THE SECRET SOCIETIES AND IN- DUSTRIES THE MOLINE DISPATCH GAZETTE VAN MOLINE, UNIQUE FOREIGN PUB- LICATION — PORT BYRON PUBLICATIONS, PAST AND PRESENT 340 CHAPTER XVI THE VALLEY IN FOUR WARS THE MEXICAN WAR — ILLINOIS IN THE CIVIL WAR — THE VALLEY REGIMENTS — THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY OF WISCONSIN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR THE THIRD AND SIXTH REGIMENTS — ILLINOIS' PARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD WAR — THE THIRTY-THIRD DIVISION AT THE FRONT THE 123RD HEAVY FIELD ARTILLERY — ■ THE SINEWS OF WAR WISCONSIN ENTERS THE WORLD WAR — THIRTY-SECOND DIVISION AT THE FRONT 1 — THE HOME DEFENSE: — THE WISCONSIN STATE GUARD — WAR FUND CONTRIBUTIONS — THE COLLEGE WAR SPIRIT 357 CHAPTER XVII ROCK COUNTY, WISCONSIN GEOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF THE COUNTY — TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE — AVERAGE ELEVA- TION OF THE WATER POWER WINNEBAGO INDIANS, FIRST KNOWN SETTLERS — DISPUTED INDIAN CLAIMS TO THE COUNTY FIRST TREATY FOR LANDS IN THE VALLEY SUBSEQUENT TREATIES SECURING TO THE UNITED STATES COMPLETE POSSESSION OF THE VALLEY — THIBAULT, FIRST WHITE MAN TO SETTLE IN THE COUNTY — THIBAULT ON SITE OF TURTLE VILLAGE — FIRST SETTLEMENT OF JANES- VILLE — HENRY F. JANES EARLY HISTORY OF JANESVILLE LAND CLAIMS SQUATTER PRACTICES JANESVILLE *S DEVELOPMENT — ROCK COUNTY ORGANIZED IX 1839 — JANESVILLE AS COUNTY SEAT — JANES, THE FIRST POSTMASTER OF J ANESVILLE — COURTHOUSE, 1841 EARLY SCHOOLS — CHURCH HISTORY OF JANES- VILLE — FIRST JANESVILLE GAZETTE, 1845, WHIG NEWSPAPER. — STEAMBOAT NAV- IGATION OF THE ROCK — JANESVILLE IN THE '40s JANESVILLE INCORPORATED AS A CITY IN 1853 GROWTH TO 1861 — JANESVILLE IN THE CIVIL WAR POST- WAR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT — GROWTH IN THE '90S — JANESVILLE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY; JANESVILLE OF TODAY FIRST SETTLEMENT OF BELOIT, 1835 — CALEB BLODGETT DR. HORACE WHITE AND THE NEW ENGLAND EMIGRA- TION SOCIETY EARLY BELOIT FERRY — ORIGIN OF THE NAME, BELOIT OTHER PROMINENT EARLY SETTLERS, 1837-1840 SEVERAL " FIRST THINGS" BELOIT IN- CORPORATED AS A VILLAGE IN 1846 EARLY STATE STREET IN BELOIT — EARLY MANUFACTURES OF BELOIT — CHURCH HISTORY — EARLY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL TEACHERS — BELOIT COLLEGE CHARTERED IN 1846 ITS ORIGIN AND HISTORY xvi CONTENTS DEVELOPMENT OP BELOIT AS AN INDUSTRIAL CITY MANUFACTURING PLANTS OP YESTERDAY AND TODAY BELOIT BANKS BELOIT OF THE PRESENT — BELOIT IN WAR OTHER SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY CLINTON, SHOPIERE, FULTON AND EDGERTON MILTON AND MILTON COLLEGE EMERALD GROVE AND EVANSVILLE — OTHER VILLAGES 371 CHAPTER XVIII DANE COUNTY, WISCONSIN FIRST SETTLERS IN THE LEAD REGION MADISON, WISCONSIN, AND DANE COUNTY — OLD CAPITOL OCCUPIED EARLY CHURCHES AND GOVERNORS — WISCONSIN A STATE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND UNIVERSITY — CIVIL WAR MATTERS DEATH OF DOTY, DODGE AND RANDALL CAPITOL AND STATE UNP7ERSITY MATTERS PROM- INENT WISCONSIN PEOPLE PASS AWAY — GOLDEN JUBILEE OF FIRST UNIVERSITY GRADUATING CLASS LEGISLATURE APPROPRIATIONS FOR NEW CAPITOLr — OPENING OF STATE GENERAL AND MEMORIAL HOSPITALS THE CITY OF MADISON — STOUGH- TON AND OUTSIDE VILLAGES DANE COUNTY, AGRICULTURALLY CONSIDERED . . 439 CHAPTER XIX DODGE COUNTY, WISCONSIN DODGE COUNTY CREATED AND ORGANIZED BEAVER DAM HORICON JUNEAU AND OTHER POINTS DODGE COUNTY AS A WHOLE 446 CHAPTER XX JEFFERSON COUNTY FORMATION OF THE COUNTY EARLY SCHOOLS THE PIONEER CHURCHES THE CITY OF WATERTOWN THE CITY OF FORT ATKINSON THE HOARD INTERESTS — THE DWIGHT FOSTER PUBLIC LIBRARY WATERLOO AND PALMYRA COMPARATIVE DAIRY STRENGTH OF THE COUNTY 452 CHAPTER XXI WINNEBAGO COUNTY, ILLINOIS ITS TOPOGRAPHY AND SCENERY INDIAN TRIBES TREATIES MADE BY THE UNITED STATES — THE INDIANS " FLOATS" — STEPHEN MACK, THE FIRST SETTLER MACK'S CAREER — IIONONEGAH, HIS INDIAN WIFE — GERMANICUS KENT, THATCHER BLAKE, DANIEL S. HAIGHT AND OTHER PIONEERS IN THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF ROCK- FORD — EARLY COUNTY ORGANIZATION CONTEST OVER THE LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT COURTHOUSE AND JAIL ERECTED IN 1844 — ROAD IMPROVEMENTS CONTENTS xvii —EARLY ECONOMIC LIFE SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY AND THE POPULAR REGULA- TION OP LAND DISPUTES FIRST PUBLIC LAND SALE IN THE COUNTY IN 1839 ROCKFORD AND ROCKTON IN 1844 EARLY STAGE COACH ROUTES — EARLY HOTELS IN ROCKFORD — TOWNS PROJECTED IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY IN THE '30s — ROCK- FORD INCORPORATED AS A VILLAGE IN 1839; AS A CITY IN 1852 — THE COUNTY IN THE SECESSION MOVEMENT OF THE EARLY '40S — EFFORTS FOR THE IM- PROVED NAVIGATION OF THE ROCK RIVER — THE BANDITTI OF THE PRAIRIES AND THE REGULATORS — EARLY ELECTIONS — THE POLISH CLAIMS WINNEBAGO IN THE STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1847 — THE REORGANIZED COUNTY GOV- ERNMENT — PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF THE '50s THE FOUNDATION OF ROCK- FORD's INDUSTRIES — EARLY CHURCH HISTORY — A VIEW OF ROCKFORD IN 1844 — RAILROAD HISTORY ROCKFORD SEMINARY AND ROCKFORD COLLEGE CHRONO- LOGICAL SKETCH OF ROCKFORD, 1881-1925 MANUFACTURING GROWTH OF ROCK- FORD POLITICS SINCE 1861 MUSIC IN ROCKFORD — ROCKFORD 'S PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES — THE LIBRARY AND ROCKFORD *S CITY PLAN THE SWEDISH ELEMENT IN ROCKFORD OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTY — THE VIL- LAGES OF PECATONICA, ROCKTON, ROSCOE, DURAND, WINNEBAGO AND OTHERS — THE OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF THE COUNTY TODAY 462 CHAPTER XXII BOONE COUNTY, ILLINOIS PHYSICAL FEATURES OF BOONE BELVIDERE PRECINCT, FATHER OF THE COUNTY BELVIDERE SETTLED THE TOWN PLATTED THE CREATION OF BOONE COUNTY — FIRST OFFICERS AND LEGISLATION— COUNTY SEAT LOCATED COURTHOUSE COM- PLETED — COUNTY EXTENDED WESTWARD THE DEVELOPMENT OF BELVIDERE CHANGE IN COUNTY ORGANIZATION BELVIDERE UNDER CORPORATE FORM BEL- VIDERE OF THE PRESENT — OUTSIDE OF BELVIDERE 526 CHAPTER XXIII STEPHENSON COUNTY THE GODFATHER OF STEPHENSON COUNTY FIRST SETTLERS PERMANENT SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS — THE PAPER TOWN OF RANSOMBERG THE REAL TOWN OF FREEPORT ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY ORIGINAL ELECTION PRECINCTS — ■ FREEPORT SELECTED AS THE COUNTY SEAT — THE EPOCHAL YEAR, 1837 THOMAS J. TURNER — TAXES AND WEALTH OF THE COUNTY IN 1838 IMPROVEMENTS CEN- TERING IN FREEPORT, 1838-40 COMING OF THE NORWEGIANS ONECO AND ORANGEVILLE — THE VILLAGE OF WINSLOW — CEDARVILLE ANOTHER DEVELOP- MENTAL YEAR, 1850 — FREEPORT INCORPORATED AS A TOWN CHOLERA IN 1850-52 — THE VILLAGE OF LENA — DAVIS AND DAKOTA ROCK CITY— RIDOTT — VILLAGES OF LATER FOUNDING AND GROWTH — FREEPORT's GROWTH FOR FORTY YEARS HORATIO C. BURCHARD — THE PANIC OF 1857 THE FREEPORT OF TODAY STEPHENSON COUNTY, AGRICULTURALLY CONSIDERED 540 xviii CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIV ■ OGLE COUNTY in the highway op travel to the lead mines woods and groves of the county attract settlement — stephen mack and leonard andrus other pioneers op the grand detour region john deere and leonard andrus establish plow works the village once a trade and industrial center now a quiet rustic village in a wonderfully picturesque region buf- falo grove selected as the special half-way station to the mines— isaac chambers and john ankney open road houses — other settlers at the grove — the kellogg and bolles trails — buffalo grove post office and village — john phelps and oregon as against john dixon and dixon 's ferry ogle county formed and named by thomas ford oregon selected as the county seat courthouse and jail erected the village as de- scribed by colonel b. f. sheets margaret fuller 's visit to oregon in 1843 her poetical descriptions of the fascinating region eagle 's nest, ganymede's spring and margaret fuller's island — dedication in 1880 — the artists' colony and lorado taft's statue of black hawk the oregon of today memorial boulders in the oregon region the canada settlement the founding of mount morris the maryland colony rock river sem- inary prominence of the hitts in the establishment of both seminary and village — development of mount morris college — first settlements in eastern ogle county the pioneers of jefferson and hickory groves, flagg township first settlers on site of rochelle — village of lane, the fore- runner of city of rochelle present-day description byron and the re- gion roundabout the " perfectionists" villages in the northern and northwestern sections ogle, a fine live stock county — noted for its superior breeds — leading raisers of pedigreed stock model agricultural estates of the rock river valley sinnissippi and rock river farms. . .568 CHAPTER XXV LEE COUNTY THE KEY-NOTE INTERIOR COUNTY PHYSICAL LEE COUNTY — SETTLEMENT BEFORE THE BLACK HAWK WAR — ALSO "DAD JOE" SMITH FATHER DIXON, THE INDIAN TRADER — FROM THE BLACK HAWK WAR TO COUNTY ORGANIZATION PAW PAW GROVE AND VILLAGES DIXON 'S FERRY IN 1836-38 DIXON, POLITICAL SEAT OF LEE COUNTY COUNTY RULE OF COMMISSIONERS' COURT — PERIOD LEADING TO DIXON 'S CITYHOOD — DR. OLIVER EVERETT INCORPORATED AS A VILLAGE — BUILD- ING OF THE DAM AND EARLY MILLS — INCORPORATED AS A TOWN NORTH DIXON AND THE DIXON AIR LINE} — NOW COMES THE CITY OF DIXON THROUGH TWO DEC- ADES — DEATH OF FATHER DIXON THE DIXON OF THE PRESENT — LEADING OUT- SIDE VILLAGES PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIPS 604 CONTENTS xix CHAPTER XXVI WHITESIDE COUNTY water courses and drainage — name and organization of county — commence- ment op the county seat fight — then sterling gains a point — lyndon again to the front a futile compromise — sterling holds the county seat for eight years real permanent county seat township organ- ization — swamp lands of the county the coming of the railroads — pioneer agricultural society — early villages of the county — the vil- lage of fulton — first newspapers in whiteside county — sterling and rock falls two cities in a nutshell the city op morrison — incorpo- rated as a city — county buildings — morrison of the present — morrison municipal building — charles bent and the whiteside sentinel prophets- town — albany and erie — lyndon and tampico — whiteside county in the wars — whiteside's standing agriculturally 630 CHAPTER XXVII HENRY COUNTY, ILLINOIS OLD HENRY COUNTY SIMPLE LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT — GENESEO REPLACES RICH- MOND DOUBLE-HEADED COUNTY SEAT — CAMBRIDGE, THE COUNTY SEAT — CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY— THE FOUNDERS OF THE BISHOP HILL COLONY THE JANSONITES LEAVE SCANDINAVIA SITE OF BISHOP HILL COLONY SELECTED THE SETTLEMENT GROWS — THE CHOLERA AND GOLD FEVER — THE MURDER OF ERIC J ANSON — OLSON SUCCEEDS JANSON — THE LAWS OF THE COLONY — ASSISTS IN FOUNDING GALVA — PROGRESSIVE DISSOLUTION SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION — - CONNECTING EDWIN A. OLSON, U. S. DISTRICT ATTORNEY — THE CITY OF KEWANEE OUTSIDE OF KEWANEE — AS AN AGRICULTURAL COUNTY 657 CHAPTER XXVIII ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, ILLINOIS ROCK ISLAND COUNTY ESTABLISHED POLITICALLY STEPHENSON BECOMES ROCK ISLAND DEVELOPMENT OF PRESENT CITY ROCK ISLAND SCHOOLS — AUGUSTANA COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY THE BEGINNINGS OF THE INSTITUTION- JENNY LIND ASSISTS— ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHED AUGUSTANA SYNOD ORGANIZED — INSTITUTION OPENED IN CHICAGO — THE PAXTON PERIOD — STRUCTURAL EXPANSION AT ROCK ISLAND THE MUSEUM THE DENKMANN ME- MORIAL LIBRARY — THE WORLD W T AR PERIOD- — THE NEW SEMINARY BUILDINGS — SCHOLASTIC EXPANSION SCOPE OF THE INSTITUTION — PRESENT STATUS AND MOLDING FORCES PARKS — CHURCHES — SOCIETIES, ASSOCIATIONS AND BENEVOLENT ORDERS THE ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL NEW STRONGHOLD IN THE MISSISSIPPI VAL- LEY — THE BUILDING OF FORT ARMSTRONG A NUCLEUS OF SETTLEMENT — STUM- xx CONTENTS BLING BLOCKS IN THE WAY OF THE ORIGINAL PLAN — ARSENAL COMMANDANTS PRIOR TO THE WORLD WAR — THE MILITARY PRISON (1863-65) CONSTRUCTION BASIS LAID BY GENERALS RODMAN AND FLAGLER — THE NEW BRIDGE BETWEEN ROCK ISLAND AND DAVENPORT DEMANDS OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR — WORLD WAR EXPANSION — THE SAVANNA PROVING GROUND WAR SUBSCRIPTIONS — MILI- TARY PERSONNEL/ — CIVILIAN AND MILITARY GUARD BRIGADIER GENERAL GEORGE W. BURR COLONEL HARRY B. JORDAN COLONEL D. M. KING POST-WAR ACTIVI- TIES AND PRESENT STATUS WATER POWER, THE DECISIVE FACTOR — PEN PICTURE OF PRESENT-DAY ARSENAIi NEWSPAPERS AND BANKS — THE CITY OF MOLINE MOLINE AS A CORPORATION THE CITY OF THE PRESENT — MOLINE 's NEWSPAPERS — PUBLIC DEPARTMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS THE PUBLIC PARKS BANKS CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES EAST MOLINE — MINOR POINTS TOWNSHIPS OF THE COUNTY 680 CHAPTER XXIX CHRONOLOGY RELATING TO THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 728 ILLUSTRATIONS Portrait of Supervising Editor, R. B. Way Frontispiece Black Hawk Monument — Reflecting the Cliann and Grandeur of the Valley 2 Views in Ogle County 's piney woods 5 Beauties of Rock River at Grand Detour 9 In the piney woods of Ogle County 13 Steamboat Rock and "Whipple Cave 17 The A'rch at the pines, Mount Morris 21 River scene near Horicon 21 Black Hawk Monument from Liberty Hill 23 Lily beds in Kishwaukee River 38 Fort Armstrong as built in 1816 83 Site of old Fort Armstrong, looking down the Mississippi 83 Wabokiesshiek (White Cloud "The Prophet ") 91 (iovernor Thomas Ford 99 Black Hawk in civilian attire 135 •John Dixon, founder of Dixon 151 Structo Manufacturing Company 's plant, Freeport 154 Present-day Horicon from the River 178 Opening of the Hennepin Canal at Rock Falls, 1907 229 Remains of first Mississippi River bridge 229 Dam and power house, Dixon 239 Old Tremont House, Watertown 241 Views of the McCormick Rock River Farms 247 A model farm in the valley — Sinnissippi, near Oregon 251 Horicon Marsh in a state of nature (1908) 254 Main Street, Janesville, in 1855 257 John Deere, founder of Deere Plow Works 259 First location of L. C. Hyde & Brittan, Beloit ■ 261 Original bank building, People's Trust and Savings Bank, Molinc 261 Moline 's early financiers 263 Charles H. Deere, J. M. Gould, J. S. Gilmore 263 Industrial centers of the lower valley 265 Rock Island early day bankers 267 J. F. Robinson, Morris Rosenfield, P. L. Mitchell; T. J. Robinson 267 Old Second National Bank 269 Rockf ord 's first bank, opened in 1848 269 Thomas D. Robertson, one of Rockf ord 's master financiers 271 The Old Mill, Morrison 274 Home of Colonel George Davenport, built 1833 — restored 1906 303 The Rock River, near Janesville 322 Janesville in 1862 — Hyatt House and first tobacco warehouse 377 St. Mary 's Catholic Church, Janesville 379 Josiah F. Willard, father of Frances Willard 383 The Willard home, near Janesville 383 Lake Koshkonong, upper waters of the Rock River 387 Frances Willard School, three miles south of Janesville 387 Aerial view of Janesville, Wisconsin 391 Beloit in 1870 397 Beloit College in 1870 403 Emerson Hall, women 's campus, Beloit College 403 Main campus, Beloit College, Beloit 407 Oldest necklace in the world 411 Bird 's eye view of Beloit 419 The State Capitol at Madison 441 xxi xxii ILLUSTRATIONS Courthouse and grounds, Juneau 447 Dodge County Home, Juneau 447 Mayville High School 449 John May, founder of Mayville 449 Alvin Foster, pioneer settler of Mayville 449 Beaver Dam, 1888 451 Van Brunt (Deere) plant, Horieon 451 Watertown in 1860 453 Panoramic view of Watertown, looking northeast, 1886 453 High school, Fort Atkinson 457 View of Hoard 's creameries, Ft. Atkinson, from the river 457 View on Rock River, from Main Street Bridge, Watertown 461 Thatcher Blake, one of the founders of Rockf ord 465 Winnebago County Courthouse 475 In the heart of Sinnissippi Park, Rockford 475 Public library, Rockford 483 Memorial Hall, Rockford 483 Anna P. Sill, founder of Rockford Seminary 495 Rockford College in 1852 495 Typical buildings of Rockford College, Adams Hall and Lathrop Hall 501 Rockford, condensed, from above 513 Kishwaukee River in the Belvidere region (The Bend and the mill race) 527 National Sewing Machine Company, Belvidere 535 High school, Belvidere 535 Stephenson County's first courthouse, 1840 541 Courthouse today, Freeport 541 Historic boulder at Freeport 551 Krape Park, Freeport 563 Public library, Freeport 563 Ogle County Courthouse, Oregon 569 Ogle County Courthouse of 1848 569 First steel plow factory in the United States 572 Margaret Fuller Island, near Oregon 579 Historic cedar on Eagle 's Nest Bluff 579 Eagle 's Nest, camp house, artists' colony 583 Site of artists' colony on Rock Biver 583 Old stone quarry, Roehelle 587 South Park Street, Mount Morris 587 Science building, Mount Morris College 591 College campus, Mount Morris College 591 City hall, Roehelle 595 Post office, Roehelle 595 Seventh Street, looking north, Roehelle 597 Township High School, Roehelle 597 Lee County Courthouse, Dixon 605 Governor Charter's log cabin at Hazelwood, Lee County 605 How Dixon appeared in 1832 611 Aerial view of Dixon 625 Detail picture of Sterling water power 633 Third Street, Sterling, in 1868 633 Looking along Second Street, Rock Falls 637 View on Main Street, Morrison 637 Picture of Sterling from above 641 Central School, Sterling 643 Y. M. C. A. building, Sterling 643 Courthouse and other County buildings, Morrison 647 High school, Morrison 647 Municipal building, Morrison 649 Business street, looking east, Morrison 651 Business street, looking west, Morrison 651 Soldiers ' monument, Sterling 655 High school, Cambridge 659 County courthouse, Cambridge 659 P. Hammond, Genesee Centenarian (1876) 663 ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii The Kewanee Boiler Works, Kewanee 669 Kewanee schools (throe buildings) 675 Northeast I 'ark, Kewanee 677 The municipal building, Moline 681 Thinl Avenue and Nineteenth Street, Rock Island 681 Dr. T. N. Hassclquist 685 Augustana College and Theological Seminary, Rock Island 689 New seminary buildings, Augustana College 69."? First permanent arsenal building and rear view of original arsenal shops 699 Flying over Rock Island 707 New and old types of buildings at Rook Tsland arsenal 717 Arsenal employes celebrating Armistice Bay, 1918 721 Grave of General Thomas J. Rodman 721 Mnyville in 1860 731 Main Street, Juneau. 740 REFLECTING ON THE CHARM AND GRANDEUR OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Black Hawk as idealized in Lorado Taft's heroic statue near Oregon History of the Rock River Valley CHAPTER I THE LAND AND ITS MAKING THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE VALLEY — THE ORIGIN OF THE WATERWAYS OF WISCONSIN AND ILLINOIS THE SOURCES OF THE ROCK RIVER IN WISCONSIN THE FOUR LAKES OF MADISON THE YAHARA THE COURSE OF THE VALLEY IN WISCONSIN WITH ITS GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY THE ROCK RIVER DRAINAGE SYSTEM — THE HIGH BLUFFS AROUND JANESVILLE AND BELOIT BIG HILL NEAR BELOIT — THE PITCH OF THE LAND AND ELEVATION WHERE RIVER LEAVES WISCONSIN THE PECATONICA, SUGAR AND KISHWAUKEE BEAUTIES AND VARIETY OF LAND- SCAPE ALONG RIVER IN ILLINOIS — THE RUGGED OUTCROPS IN ROCKFORD REGION GRANDEURS OF THE VALLEY IN OGLE AND LEE COUNTIES — THE GRAND DETOUR REGION THE VALLEY FROM OREGON TO DIXON A TRAVELER OF 1836 MARGARET FULLER'S ENRAPTURED PEN PICTURE OF THE REGION THE ADVOCACY OF THE SAVING OF THIS SECTION OF THE VALLEY FOR LANDSCAPE LOVERS — THE CREATION OF A STATE PARK — THE WHITE PINE WOODS OF OGLE COUNTY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THEREON BEAUTIES OF THE ROCK ISLAND SECTION OF THE VALLEY BLACK HAWK'S TOWER — VAST STRETCHES OF LANDSCAPE AND WATER VIEWS AT ROCK ISLAND HOW THE VALLEY CAME TO BE ITS GEOLOGICAL HISTORY. The Rock River Valley in Wisconsin is the drainage basin of all southern Wisconsin, south of a line drawn from Lake Winnebago, southwesterly along the main axis of the Wisconsin River. The Valley includes the lakes of the Madison and Oeonomowoc systems, and receives the rainfall nearly to the doors of Milwaukee. It reaches to within six or seven miles of lakes Winnebago and Green ; and, in one place on the east, to within three miles of the main stream of the Fox in Illinois. The singular physical fact is that the watershed should be so near Lake Michigan along the Milwaukee margin ; and, so near the Fox- Wisconsin, whence the valleys of the three come in touch. In its lower ranges, the valley of the Rock trenches on the valley of the Illinois ; the watershed between the two being within a dozen miles of the Illinois. Before reaching the Mississippi, it crosses the northern coal fields of the state. It finally narrows until it empties into the Father of Waters below the city of Rock Island. Just before it reaches the Mississippi, it forms the basin of the Hennepin Canal for several miles. There are few regions which are the equal of the Rock River Valley in general fertility. The lands are owned by those tilling them to a greater degree than in most sections of the West. The flourishing cities of Rock Island, Dixon, Vol. I— 1 4 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Sterling, Belvidere, Freeport, Rockford, Beloit, Janesville, Fort Atkinson, Jef- ferson, Watertown and Madison are the chief collecting and distributing places of the Valley. The story of the nation for the first three hundred years has been the story of the Rock River Valley for seventy-five years. There have been the same changes in the circumscribed area though swifter and with less delay between the different stages. Indian hunting ground has changed to battlefield; battle- field has smiled and blossomed under the pioneer's plow; and, in turn, the pioneer's cabin has been replaced by the factory, the mill and the comforts of city life — all within the memory of man. This rapidity of development has been due largely to the location of the Valley. ORIGIN OF THE WATERWAYS The waterways of Wisconsin are determined by the great mass of ancient crystalline rocks in the northern part of the state. This central mass is the highest land in the state. The rock layers gently dip, or slope, towards the north, south, southeast and southwest; thereby, forming the four watersheds so that the waters, falling upon the rocks, are shed in four directions. These watersheds direct the streams northerly into Lake Superior, southeasterly into Lake Michigan, to the south into the Wisconsin River, and to the southwest directly into the Mississippi. The sloping of the land mass in Illinois southwesterly from Lake Michigan gave the direction to the Illinois waterway. The valley of Green Bay-Lake Winnebago-Fox-Rock rivers, were originally one system and furnished a won- derful, natural passage from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. The Rock River Valley is but an extension of that of Green Bay; the two forming one great trough. The Horicon basin, the source of the Rock River, is only a repetition of Lake Winnebago. SOURCES OF THE ROCK RIVER The east branch of the Rock joins the main river in the Horicon marsh. From the Horicon marsh, the Rock follows southward the ledge of Niagara limestone, as close as the drift accumulations permit, until it reaches Ocon- omowoc. Here it turns abruptly and flows to the northwest until it reaches Watertown, where, bending to the southward, it follows this course bearing to the west. The western source of the Rock River is the valley of the Yahara, or Cat- fish River with its beautiful chain of lakes in Dane County. From this Lake Basin, before the ice age, a stream flowed southeast to join what then corre- sponded to the Rock River. The four-gemmed necklace of lakes around Madi- son, with the Yahara or Catfish as the connecting link, bears the Indian names of Kegonsa, Waubesa, Monona and Mendota. These were formerly known by number in the order in which they were reached in traveling upstream ; Lake Kegonsa being First Lake and Mendota, Fourth. Longfellow thus character- izes them : GO o r 1 a Q C — Kj GO 2 O o 6 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE FOUR LAKES OF MADISON "Four limpid lakes, — four Naiades Or sylvan deities are these, In flowing robes of azure dressed ; Four lovely handmaids, that uphold Their shining mirrors, rimmed with gold, To the fair city in the West. By day the coursers of the sun Drink of these waters as they run Their swift diurnal round on high; By night the constellations glow Far down the hollow deeps below, And glimmer in another sky. Fair lakes, serene and full of light, Fair town, arrayed in robes of white How visionary ye appear! All like a floating landscape seems In cloud-land or the land of dreams, Bathed in a golden atmosphere." THE YAHARA The Catfish River, as the outlet of the four lakes, enters the Rock River eleven and one-half miles below the foot of Lake Koshkonong. Here occurs the junction of the eastern and western head valleys of the Rock. The Yahara, now a branch of the Rock River, is presumably the beheaded remnant of the Wisconsin. When the original Wisconsin first began to flow, after the region had been uplifted from the ocean, it acquired its course as a consequence of the southward dip of the sedimentary rocks. The dipping of the rocks made a topographic surface upon which a southward course past Madison became natural, especially as the axis of the arch lay west of Merri- mack, Sauk County. The diversion of the Wisconsin to its present westward course may, then, have been accomplished by the headwater erosion on the part of the short stream, along the Wisconsin Valley, which we may call the Kickapoo-Wisconsin. COURSE OF THE VALLEY IN WISCONSIN The Rock River Valley of Wisconsin is a part of the Eastern Ridges and Lowlands of Wisconsin. It has, in the main, a fairly level topography, fertile soil and favorable climate. The geographic province of the Eastern Ridges and Lowlands, of which the Rock River Valley is a part, includes all between Lake Michigan and its western Upland and Central Plain. On its western boundary, it follows the contact of the Cambrian sand shore with the Lower Magnesian limestone from Menominee River in Marinette County to the Wis- consin River in Sauk and Columbia counties, near Prairie du Sac. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 7 From this point southward to Illinois, the boundary is (a) a terminal moraine at the edge of the latest Drift sheet, and (b) the Rock River below Janesville. Its general topographic features consist of (a) a ridge of Lower Magnesian limestone on the west; (b) lowlands of Galena — Trenton limestone, containing Green Bay, Lake "Winnebago and the Rock River; (c) the upland of Niagara limestone adjacent to Lake Michigan; (d) Lowland of Devonian shale in the valley occupied by Lake Michigan. TITE ROCK RIVER DRAINAGE SYSTEM The chief streams of the Wisconsin Rock River System are the Yahara, Crawfish and the main Rock River on the East, and the Pecatonica and Sugar rivers on the western uplands. Thus the drainage system is about equally divided between the glaciated and the driftless territory. The Pecatonica has no lakes interrupting its course and its tributaries are close-set, thoroughly draining the countiy through which they flow. It has no swamps except in the flood plains of the main stream. The Sugar River Valley is occupied by the vast floods of water from the melting continental glacier. The deposits of sand and gravel, made near Brodhead, descend at the rate of two and one-half feet per mile. The eastern tributaries of the Sugar River, as well as the southern, all rise in the uplands which, covered with older drift, now worn thin, almost disappear in places only to reappear below. The Yahara River is in complete contrast to the Pecatonica. The Yahara is interrupted by lakes and has few tributaries. There are broad undrained interstream areas including numerous swamps. Its drainage is aimless and unsystematic, with the grade not perfected as in the Pecatonica. The Yahara rises northwest of Lake Mendota to an elevation of 100 feet, flows through extensive swamps when the channel, almost disappearing, reappears below. From Lake Mendota to Lake Kegonsa, the Yahara descends six hundred feet in eight and six-tenths miles; but only a few feet of this distance is in a channel. For the greater distance it is lost in the waters of Lakes Mendota, Monona, "Waubesa and Kegonsa. Between Lake Kegonsa and the city of Stoughton, Dane County, the grade is decidedly steeper, and the valley has been more deeply eroded in the glacial deposits. From Lake Kegonsa to its confluence with the main Rock River north of Janesville, the Yahara has a grade of nearly four feet to the mile. The lake basin, which interrupts this stream, is twenty to seventy feet deep ; so that, until the river has destroyed these lakes, by cutting down their out- lets or filling their basins, the stream cannot be perfected. The stream was revolutionarily modified by the continental glacier, which, by erosion and de- posit, formed a series of boat-shaped depressions which contain the present lakes. Around the shores of the Yahara, boulders and ramparts were dropped by the ice in favorable localities. The shore line includes rock cliffs, drift bluffs, beaches, barriers and split. In the region southwest of Madison, there are abandoned stream channels which w T ere occupied by glaciated waters; but now by tiny streams far too small to have cut channels. One of these may be seen 8 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY about three miles east, and another three and one-half miles southwest of Oregon, Ogle County. Lake Wingra, near Madison, has been filled until it is nearing extinction, being now less than fourteen feet deep. This was known as Magra, which is translated Dead Lake. While vegetation contributed to the filling of the lake, the chief cause was the accumulation of marl, made up partly of the shells of small animals. The main Rock River, as stated, has its head waters in Fond du Lac County, a few miles southeast of Lake Winnebago. It has a length of 154 miles in Wisconsin and an e^vation of 1,000 feet at its headwaters. It descends with a grade of one and four-fifths feet per mile, leaving the state at Beloit only 731 feet above the sea level. Its course is entirely in glaciated territory and mostly in the great lowland of Trenton limestone which extends north and south, parallel to the Niagara escarpment. The northern part of the same lowland is occupied by Lake Winnebago, the Fox River and Green Bay. The Rock is interrupted in its course by only three basins: Lake Koshkonong, the mill pond at Hustisford, Dodge County, and the Horicon Marsh. The Crawfish and Bark rivers, tributaries of the Rock, contain such lakes as Beaver Lake, Oconomowoc and Ripley. There are vast areas of swamps and woodlands along the main stream, so that the run-off of the Rock River basin is somewhat regulated. The Rock River, near Janesville and Beloit, was displaced from its preg'acial course by the continental ice sheet. Its preglacial position is proven to have been east of Janesville and Beloit; whereas it now lies to the west. HIGH BLUFFS AROUND JANESVILLE AND BELOIT Around Janesville and Beloit are bluffs of considerable elevation from which sweeping views up and down the valley are obtainable. About two miles north of Beloit, Big Hill looms above all other elevations and is so cherished that persistent efforts to save it as a park are now about to be realized. As the pitch of the land in Wisconsin gives the Rock a southwesterly di- rection; so in Illinois, the land surface gently sloping towards the south and southwest, again gives that direction to the stream. The Pecatonica, Sugar and Kishwaukee are the first large tributaries to the Rock in northern Illinois. The Pecatonica comes from the west, flows in a general east and north direction for about twenty miles, when it empties its turbid waters into the bright, flashing current of the Rock near the town of Rockton. Its course, through both Stephenson and Winnebago counties, is a tortuous and muddy one. Sugar River, coming from the northwest, empties into the Pecatonica near Shirland, Winnebago County. So lazily do these two streams run, that neither affords any water power. The Kishwaukee, with the union of its two branches in the southeastern corner of Winnebago County, flows westward into the Rock. WHERE THE RIVER ENTERS ILLINOIS In Illinois the Rock River is unique in the beaut}* and variety of its land- scape. From its entrance into the state at Beloit, near the center of the Wis- - > h3 - H 2 SB ?1 2 — n < ? > 00 Q - a a ►3 O CI !•; 1 1 \ • i 1HI SB * • ft ■ Maft 1 * i f 1« 1 • A ^''^9 \ Ki 1 "I 1 - ■ 1 - 4 1 ''wM^EfcSv ^IJkv ' B^lfli •' Hr 'ft ' % bP '. . u (i'? ..ik W€^m >-i 10 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY consin line, to its junction with the Mississippi below Rock Island, it presents, through its course of 150 miles, a succession of pictures varying in character and effect. The valley is narrow, with rugged hills or precipitous cliffs where the river follows its glacial course. The hills and the valleys are throughout its length heavily wooded for the most part. Occasionally, however, a naked hillside, with eroded gullies, stands an object lesson of the folly of deforestation. THE GRAND DETOUR REGION The Rock, upon entering Illinois, runs nearly due south to Rockford; then, bending gradually to the west, enters Ogle County after affording fine water power to Beloit, Rockton and Rockford. Rugged outcrops of limestone are seen in the Rockford region. The section between Oregon and Dixon, known as the "Grand Detour region" from the quaint and interesting village of that name midway between the other two towns mentioned above, contains a wealth of beautiful and interesting features. "Here are majestic hills, sweeping vistas of island-studded river, abrupt cliffs of sandstone or limestone, and luxuriant and varied forest growth." The village takes its name of Grand Detour from the great bend or leap in the river at this point, which the early French explorers termed the "grande detour." In a sweep of three and one-half miles, the river returns within a half mile of itself; and the village is situated on the narrow neck with the same river as its eastern and western boundaries. THE VALLEY FROM OREGON TO DIXON A strip of the river bank, varying from a few feet to a mile in depth, and extending for five miles up and five miles down the river from Grand Detour, includes some of the loveliest scenery in the Middle West. Down the river from the village, the right bank furnishes a series of splendid wooded bluffs with a number of cliffs of St. Peters sandstone, rising sheer from the river inter- estingly sculptured by water and weather. The sweeping panoramic view from the last one, Green Rock, is of unusual charm. A little farther on, the bluffs are broken by the valley of Pine Creek, a stream flowing picturesquely through the white pine grove of Ogle County. The high ground begins again beyond Pine Creek and continues to Dixon. South of Dixon, the bluffs are on the left bank of the river, with a number of fine rocky cliffs of which the Whirl- pool Rock is the most conspicuous. "This massive wall of sandstone is di- rectly in the westerly course of the river at the southern part of its loop and deflects it suddenly to the north through a narrow channel." A group of white pines crowns the headland here. North of the village, the river road "to Oregon is unusually interesting as it skirts the west bank of the river a portion of the way, with a fine view of the wooded bluffs on the farther side. ' ' About five miles from Grand Detour, the valley narrows and the rounded hills, bounding the valley on the west, are replaced by a group of steep cliffs of sandstone, rising from the water's edge and extending about half a mile. Professor Pattee informs us that geolog- ical lore explains that this marks an old divide through which the river has cut its way in relatively recent times. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 11 ('astir Rock, the most northern of these roek masses, is a detached pyramid of bare sandstone; while Prospect Rock, the more imposing of the cliffs, is the exposed end of a long ridge running at right angles to the river. Excep- tional are the views from these cliffs; Castle Rock with its position at the bend of the river, displays a sweeping panorama including both the up-stream ami the down-stream views; but the sight from Prospect Rock, looking south down the river, is by all odds the best of all of the splendid views of this much favored region. A miniature archipelago of willow-covered islets is a fascinating element of the picture which includes another cliff in the foreground, the heavily wooded and rounded hills of the left bank, and the extended prospect down the river valley to the far hills at the horizon. As a result of the rugged and broken character of its topography, the Castle Rock is in a more natural state than any oilier portion of the district. Unbroken woods cover the abrupt hills and deep ravines to the depth of a mile back from the river. A TRAVELER OF 1836 In 1836 a traveler wrote thus of the Oregon region in the New York Star : "The bluff which follows the river until it reaches the city leaves it and falls back for a mile, forming a half circle, and meets it again just below in pic- tures! pie grandeur. The situation of Oregon itself has forcibly reminded me of Palermo, the capital of Sicily, surrounded on the land by a chain of moun- tains, forming a complete amphitheatre which has been poetically called the "Conco L'Ora' or The Golden Shell. The banks of the Rock River are not so high as those in the Sicilian landscape ; but contrasted with the wide ex- panse of country around, are quite as effective and more rich in fertile charms. The swelling of the prairies, gemmed with wild flowers of every hue, the stately forest, and valleys interspersed with shady groves on the opposite side of the river surrounding Hyde Park, from which we started, the wild and bounding deer in great numbers — form features rarely to be met with in a single glance of the eye, either in this or any other country; and amidst all these beauties, 'The river, nobly foams and flows, The charm of this enchanted ground And all its thousand turns disclose Some fresher beauty varying round. ' "In this section, the scenery along the Rock gives resemblance to the old feudal castles of England, as, half ruined, moss-covered and ivy-draped, they are preserved to us in pictures." The limestone bluffs, covered half-way up their steep sides with the accumulation of ages, "look like mural escarpment and cyclopean walls among the wild hills. The sandstone cliffs of varying hues now* glancing like snow peaks in the sunshine, or glowing like balls of flame or yellow, when stained with red oxide of iron, are weathered into all sorts of fantastic shapes. The rounded tower-like casemated mosses stand out in bold relief at the Indian Pulpit, three or four miles below Oregon, and at other places along this heavy outcrop of the St. Peter's limestone." 12 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY MARGARET FULLER 's PEN PICTURE Margaret Fuller, enraptured with the view, wrote thus of it: "Here swelled the river in its boldest course, interspersed by halcyon isles on which nature had lavished all her prodigality in tree, vine and flower, banked by noble bluffs, three hundred feet high, their sharp ridges as exquisitely definite as the edge of a shell, their summits adorned with those same beautiful trees, and with buttresses of rocks crested with old hemlocks which wore a touch- ing and antique grace amidst the softer and more luxuriant vegetation. Lofty natural mounds rose amidst the rest with the same lovely and sweeping outline showing everywhere the plastic power of water. * * * "Not far from the river was a high crag called the Pine Rock, which looked out, as our guide observed, like a helmet above the brow of the country. It seems as if the water left here and there a vestige of forms and material that preceded its course just to set off its new and richer designs. The aspect of this country was to me enchanting beyond any I have ever seen, from its ful- ness of expression, its boldness and impassioned sweetness. Here the flood of emotion has passed over and marked everywhere its sweetness by a smile. The fragments of rock touch it with a wildness and liberality which gives just the needed relief. I should never be tired here." From Oregon to Sterling the surface is very rolling and undulating. Fre- quently deep ravines are cut, on the sides of which the rocks are often exposed to view. The banks of the Rock and its tributaries present frequently bold precipitous, perpendicular bluffs of rock from fifty to one hundred feet high. THE CREATION OP A STATE PARK Very appropriately "The Friends of our Native Landscape" advocate the saving of this section of the valley by establishing a state park area. In a re- cently published report, they urge the necessity of immediate action. Already men of wealth, appreciating the beauty of Rock River, have acquired estates of large area. Unfortunately, the wooded sections are being reduced every year in the interest of fire-wood and increased areas for cultivation. The region is very accessible to nature lovers. It can be reached in a few hours from almost any point in the northern half of the state ; the main lines of the Chicago & North Western and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy cross- ing the state from east to west, land passengers at Dixon and Oregon, between which the proposed park area is located. THE WHITE PINE WOODS OF OGLE COUNTY In Ogle County, also, there lies the White Pine Forest of one thousand acres, nine miles from Oregon and seven miles from Polo. The tract is traversed by Pine Creek, which, rising farther up in Ogle County, flows in a winding course of twenty-five miles, emptying into Rock River several miles from the forest and just below the curious hend in the river at Grand Detour. The creek, at the White Pine Forest, reaches the height of its picturesque beauty as it flows by the high, rocky, vine-and-flower-covered banks, mirroring them in 3 H - O O O o o 14 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY its clear waters as it journeys by. "Old settlers, who came to the region about 1840, say that white pines were found then pretty much all along the east bank of the creek and extending out to a breadth of sometimes half a mile and more. It is chiefly on the east bank that the white pine is now found. Red cedar is found also in this tract, but mainly on the west side of the creek. The American yew, or ground hemlock, the third evergreen growing in this tract, is found mostly on the east side of the stream, creeping and hanging in long dark festoons over far stretches of the rocky wall. "In October the brilliant colors of the hardwoods (which are intermixed Avith the evergreens over most of this tract) mingled with the soft, rich green of the white pines and the young growth make a picture of entrancing loveliness. The white pine and red cedar, procured from Pine Creek, were planted around the early homes of the settlers, both in town and country, for protection from the fierce storms, and for their beauty. The groups of these evergreens, as they surround the homes and dot the landscape, are today an evidence of the houses in which once lived pioneer families." A persistent advocacy since 1903 for the setting aside of this White Pine Forest as a state park has, un- fortunately, thus far not been successful. "William Cullen Bryant, the poet, wrote June 21, 1841: "I have just re- turned from an excursion to Rock River, one of the most beautiful of our west- ern streams. It flows through high prairies. The banks on either side are high and bold ; sometimes they are perpendicular precipices, the bases of which stand in running water. Sometimes they are steep, grassy, or rocky bluffs with a piece of alluvial land between them and the streams; sometimes they rise by gradual and easy ascent to the general level of the region ; and sometimes this ascent is interrupted by a broad, natural terrace. Majestic trees grow solitarily, or in clumps, on the grassy acclivities, or scattered in natural parks along the lower lands upon the river, or in thick groves along the edge of the high country. Back of the bluffs, extends a fine agricultural region, rich prairies with undulat- ing terraces interspersed with groves. At the foot of the bluffs break forth copious springs of clear water which hasten in little brooks to the river. In a drive which I took up the left bank of the river, I saw three of these; the first, the spring which supplies the town of Dixon with water * * * The next is a beautiful fountain rushing out from the rocks in the midst of a clump of trees, as merrily and in as great a hurry as a boy let out from school. ' ' BEAUTIES OP ROCK ISLAND SECTION The peculiar topography of the country about Rock Island imparts great variety and beauty to the scenery. Ascending the high tableland which forms the divide here between the Mississippi and the Rock rivers and which termi- nates in a single lofty bluff overlooking the point of their juncture, the valleys of both sides are distinctly seen. One discerns clearly from here the cities of Rock Island and Davenport, and away to the southwest along the sloping bluffs, one sees the smoke of Muscatine, Iowa, thirty miles away. "Lifting itself abruptly from Rock River to the height of about two hundred feet, is 'Black Hawk's Watch Tower,' an eminence from which the famous Sac warrior viewed the troops sent against him * * * as they deployed in THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 15 the valley about ten miles distant. A clear view of the valley is visible from here. The observer sees across the river the thriving town of Milan and the - intervening islands covered with their groves of stately elms and the shim- mering waterfalls of the four separate channels." Here about Rock Island the scenery is unsurpassed. Rock Island, itself, has an impressive appearance, rising out of the Mississippi a solid rock of im- posing height. Having a length of several miles and a width of three-quarters of a mile, the rocks are covered with fertile soil. "Washing around its base with a rapid current of pure and limpid water, the Rock River can be seen a few miles south, rushing over the rocky rapids into the Father of Waters. With the surrounding country interspersed with beautiful groves of timber, the scene presents one of beauty rarely equalled. "The blue hills in the distance, directing the course of the river, are seen in the north and south rising to considerable heights with gentle slopes, and the valley between, embracing the river, is some miles in extent, presenting a variety of surface and beauty of landscape never surpassed." HOW THE VALLEY CAME TO BE Now that we have viewed the physical features of the Rock River Valley, the land upon which man is to play his part, we pause in wonderment and ask how they came to be. The scientist alone can tell their readings. To his trained eye the history of the physical revolutions lay open in the layers of colored earth in the steep banks of the rivers or in the outcroppings of the rocks in various parts of the valley. The story, though incompletely deciphered, is one that reaches back into the past millions of years before the advent of man. It discloses revolutionary transformations wrought by gigantic forces; sometimes, of the sudden, violent outbreaks of volcanoes and the shaking of earthquakes; sometimes of more quiet but no less effective agencies; the wearing away of rocks, particle by particle, their transportation by wind and water, ar^d their changes by chem- ical and other agents. The great valley of the Mississippi, of which the Rock is a part, was formed in the dawn of geologic time, the result of stupendous forces. The landscape, in that earliest period, was probably broken by parallel ranges of high volcanic mountains. These, in the course of several unmeasured geological ages, were worn down by streams and other natural forces, to a gently undu- lating plain with somewhat similar characteristics which the region has pos- sessed since man has been able to read its geological history. Over the valley the sea came, again and again with its several recessions, according as the continent was lifted or depressed. From incoming streams, the sea-bottom received sediment which it sorted into layers of gravel, sand, clay and broken shells. As time passed on, these particles were formed into rocks by cementation and pressure. Thus the sand became sandstone, the clay, shale and the shells, limestone. These became the known foundations of the valley. They were laid upon the unstratified original Archaen rock, arranged ulti- mately in layers or strata, now well known and named by the geologists. In the formation of the mineral wealth of the Mississippi Valley, repeated changes due to the upwarping and sinking of the plane occurred. The coastal 16 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY swamps changed frequently to a shallow sea. Luxuriant flora filled this swamp- land. The forests of huge fern and evergreen trees grew to maturity, died and became changed, by chemical and other forces, into peat and coal. It is believed that, during this carboniferous age, the territory of Illinois passed through this sequence of processes, turning forests into coal, at least six different times. The whole surface was then raised, the rocks cracked and pushed or pressed upward. Then the winds, frosts and rains crumbled their surfaces, cutting the edges : the rivers wore through the stony beds ; and out of the debris of erosion was formed new soil wherein trees and plants took root. Over all, there then lay strewn a soil of decayed stone, similar in kind to that of present New England. With a surface more broken by hills than that of today, the Mississippi then rolled placidly along its course. Not yet, how- ever, had the Rock River Valley acquired its present relationships. Another radical change took place. The mild, almost tropical climate gave way to one of extreme cold. From Labrador as a center, great ice fields slowly spread over the northern part of North America and moved southward as far as the plateau that runs from the Wabash to the Grand Tower. During this glacial period the rock surface of limestones, sandstones and shales were crum- bled and pulverized by the freezing and thawing. This debris from the north was carried by the ice floes and spread or piled up in Illinois and Wisconsin. So powerful was the glacial action that it cut through and tore into frag- ments the great upper layers of limestone. These were carried southward, rob- bing, thereby, Wisconsin of over four hundred feet of stratified rock. Geol- ogists say that, whereas the Niagara limestone once covered almost the whole of northern Illinois and Wisconsin, it. is now found only on the top of a few of the high ridges. The glaciers, in their passage, deposited a layer of drift, bowlder clay from five to five hundred feet thick, composed of soil, gravel and bowlders. Great streams of water followed up the receding ice fields. Erosion continued the work of denudation, sweeping up preglacial channels and cutting new ones, sometimes through solid rock. The old river valleys were wider than they are now. As they narrowed with the ages, they built up the great, rich alluvial plains that now are the richest farming lands. With the movements of the glaciers southward and their recessions, the topography of the Rock River Valley underwent important changes. Before the Glacial Period, the Great Lakes had no existence. The present basin of Lake Michigan was a former river valley which later became deepened and broadened by glacial erosion. A river of considerable size, we are told, flowed southward through the valley to join the Mississippi, which gave direction to the movement of the ice southward. A smaller ice lobe passed southward through the valley in which Green Bay and Lake Winnebago now lie. This lobe deepened the track over which the Wisconsin River formerly flowed, when it journeyed from Madison to Janesville along the present Rock River Valley. The Yahara, now a branch of the Rock, is, according to Professor Martin, the beheaded remnant of the old Wisconsin. With the uplifting of the region from the ocean, the sedimentary rocks were given a southward dip. This made it natural for the Wisconsin to take a more westerly direction when the erosion of the headwater of the short Kickapoo-Wisconsin had been accomplished. STEAMBOAT ROCK (UPPER), AND WHIPPLE CAVE (LOWER) 18 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY During preglacial times, there was a valley which ran southeast from the vicinity of Madison occupied by the older Rock River. A valley also ran south- west from Madison, draining its waters into the Wisconsin. These streams, by the glacial time, had cut through the limestone and were running in the Pots- dam sandstone from fifty to one hundred feet below the present level of the Catfish River. In glacial times, the stream running into the Wisconsin became nearly obliterated by the ice; debris filled its lower portion; and the terminal moraine lay across its channel. Its course became thereby reversed and the drainage of its basin diverted into the Rock. The irregularities of the ground moraine broke the upper portion of the stream's course into a series of basins, which now form the four lakes of Madison, made by the erosive action of the ice. According to W. C. Alden, the authority on the geology of the Wisconsin section of the Rock River Valley, Trenton and Galena limestone predominate in the structure of the upper part from the sources to Dane County. From Lake Koshkonong southward to Beloit, the St. Peter sandstone, the moraines of the Lake Michigan and Green Bay glaciers, and Lower Magnesian limestone form the structure of the remaining part of the valley in Wisconsin. In Illinois, according to Leverett, the Trenton and Galena limestones con- stitute the major structure. From Oregon southward to Geneseo, close to the river on either side, the Niagara limestone appears. At Sterling, in other points in Whiteside County, and predominantly so in Rock Island County, coal measures appear. After the several geological rock formations of sandstone and limestone had been deposited over the entire valley by the silurian sea, then lifted above the water, and eroded into hills and valleys by the elements, the region was covered by the various glaciers. The consequent actions of the ice and glacial waters deposited a covering of clay, gravel and bowlders over the face of the region, well nigh concealing all the strata of its geological structure. These constitute the drift or surface deposits now prevailing in the valley. The drift is com- posed of groundup material of various kinds of rocks. Its composition varies somewhat in the different parts of the valley, due to the different glacial lobes which acted on the sections and the length of time over which they extended their work. In the Wisconsin part of the valley, the earlier glaciers took a westerly or southwesterly movement. The largest single element of this drift is from the Trenton group of limestones. Of the material examined by Alden the Galena and Trenton constituted more than fifty per cent of the material. Consider- able quartzite is also found in this drift. Then the Green Bay Glacier acted upon the same section, producing its own drift and its several terminal mo- raines. The drift of these moraines have different percentages of composition. In general, however, the drift of the Green Bay Glacier is formed largely of Galena and Trenton limestone. "Westward," says Alden, "along the Johns- town moraine the Niagara constituent decreases until it almost disappears on crossing the Rock River in the town of Janesville. In the Milton moraine it does not appear west of the town of Lima. In the ground moraine, Niagara limestone is the principal constituent." The Niagara decreases as a constituent on going westward. The Galena limestone increases, becoming the predominant element until the zone is reached THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 19 whore the Trenton limestone is exposed by erosion in the preglacial Rock River Valley ami iis tributaries in the towns of Jefferson, Koshkonong, Milton and Harmony. West of the preglacial Rock River Valley the Trenton limestone predominates. Xot until the Yahara basin of southern Dane County is reached does the Lower Magnesian limestone become a recognizable element. Of course a sandstone element is always present. Due to its friable char- acter, it enters into the finer material of the drift. The finer material is a rock flour formed from the abrasion of limestones and shales. "West of the Rock the increase in sandstone formation gives a more sandy character to the surface soil. Then the Delavan and the main Lake Michigan glaciers, acting on the valley, contributed their different drift. There was, of course, a considerable mixing as they worked at different times over the same territory. They differ mainly in the percentage of Niagara limestone present. The Galena and Trenton lime- stones appear in large percentages. Then there is the drift of the outwash deposits. This has an intermediate char- acter due to the intermingling of the water's heating materials from the Dela- van and Green Bay ice fronts. Niagara material is distributed very generally throughout this deposit. It reaches twenty per cent of the composition only in parts of the towns of Brad- ford, La Prairie, Turtle, Rock and Beloit, which received directly the discharge from the Delavan ice lobe. Trenton limestone is the predominant constituent of the coarser outwash drift interspersed with Galena limestone. Sandstone pebbles and a large amount of loose quartz sand are present. Negligible are the foreign ingredients of minerals in the drift of the Wis- consin section of the valley. Passing to a somewhat more detailed description of the geology of the area we note that the Potsdam sandstone appears on the surface over a considerable area of the Catfish Valley ; while the Mendota and Madison sandstones consti- tute the surface rocks over a larger part of the same valley. These reach to the south side of Lake Kegonsa. The Lower Magnesian limestone forms the upper part of all the dividing ridge of the north part of the county, consti- tutes the flanks on both sides of the Catfish and reoccurs farther south. The Lower Magnesian has a thickness of more than eighty feet in the county with such an irregularity of surface as "to bring it often into the horizon of the next formation above." On the east side of the Yahara (or Catfish) Valley the St. Peter sandstone appears to be more than fifty feet in thickness. It forms a narrow band around the Trenton limestone areas of York, Bristol and Wind- sor. On both sides of the Catfish Valley, in detached areas, occurs the Trenton limestone. The Galena limestone occurs infrequently as a capping of other limestones. The limestones are profitably quarried at various points in the county. Rock County has, as its underlying foundation, the Potsdam sandstone. Over this lies the Lower Magnesian limestone. This is everywhere in the count}' hidden from view by the drift composed of sand, gravel and clay. Upon the Lower Magnesian limestone rests the St. Peter sandstone of uneven but average Vol. 1—2 20 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY thickness of seventy-five to one hundred feet. It appears on the surface in the cliffs facing the Sugar River Valley, along streams leading down to it, and in the cuts between Magnolia and Footville. Around the base of "Big Hill" north of Beloit it is also exposed. Above and below Janesville it is seen in the banks of the river. At Indian Ford and below Edgerton and other places it rises also to the surface, everywhere a soft, crumbling sandstone of value in building. Above the St. Peter is laid the Trenton limestone. This is frequently seen on the surface in the western part of the county. It is divided into the four divisions known scientifically as Lower Bluff, Lower Blue, Upper Bluff, and Upper Blue beds. These can be studied under proper direction in the vicinity of Beloit. This limestone is also seen around Janesville. As this limestone forms a stratum which slopes to the southeast, it is entirely buried in the eastern part of the county by later formations. Across northern Rock County, the drift is very deep giving an irregular contour to the surface due to its being a part of a belt of ridges extending across the state. In the town of Beloit and in the Sugar River Valley are great gravel plains. In the southwestern part of the county the drift is not very deep. Here the shape of the hills and smaller valleys is determined mainly by the contour of the underlying rock. Bowlders are scattered thickly over the whole surface of the drift. Nearly all are of crystalline rock, composition with gneiss predominating. Others are granite sandstone, gneissoid syenite, slate and quartz. The Illinois section of the Rock River Valley was also overrun by different glaciers. Each contributed its peculiar drift to the area. Often the respective drifts are intermingled. In the Pecatonica basin of the Rock and the country east of the Rock the loess is very thin and is sandy in character, liberally set with small fragments of lime- stone. The surface east of the Rock River in Winnebago and Boone counties, is less sandy and becomes calcareous at a depth of but one to two feet. In moving southward from the Pecatonica basin, loesslike silts overlap the Iowan drift to a distance of several miles. They extend into northern Lee County some miles east of the Rock River. Sandy deposits appear in the Green River basin. In northwestern Whiteside County there is a tract nearly free from loess. Alluvial deposits, loess and the drift proper comprise the surface geology of Winnebago County. The alluvial bottoms appear along the rivers. On the Sugar and Pecatonica rivers a deep black deposit supports in places a heavy growth of timber. Marl, sands and clays appear along the Rock. In this county the drift proper is of considerable thickness, having been brought from the north and deposited over large areas of the county. Heavy-bedded yellowish Galena limestone underlies two-thirds of the county. Several quarries and outcrops of it are readily found, one about three miles above Rockford. Below the Galena is found Blue limestone in the northern and north- western portions of the country. East of Shirland is found its best exposures. Buff limestone to a depth of forty-five feet is found in Rockton. The silt deposits in the valleys of Stephenson County are very deep and 4* * ^fi&^L P^^^F^" iH %U Mr ^BP' • • k ^--. . I - *ii«c'i | j > *^ r iE3l s S%&* BB jj^ " ™v_ ~" ^ ., -. • • ^*r* V / _ ,"». THE ARCH AT THE PINES, MOUNT MORRIS RIVER SCENE NEAR HORICON 22 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY peculiar in nature. At the surface exposure "the upper portion is a false- bedded, calcareous and ferruginous, light brown fine sand and silt, and appears to represent the shore deposits of an ancient lake." Found in a small ravine one and one-half miles south of Freeport, on the surface, wells have proven it to be present in the valleys of nearly all the streams in the Pecatonica drainage basin. The greater part of Ogle County is thinly covered with drift. The outer moraine of the Wisconsin drift touches the southern corner of the county and has there a depth of more than 250 feet. Surface bowlders are occasionally found. In Lee County there are outcroppings of St. Peter sandstone above Grand Detour. Trenton buff and blue limestones are present, as is also the Galena. Here is found also fine material for building and for the manufacture of quick- lime. The soil is fertile, well drained and adapted to agriculture and stock raising. The southern half of Whiteside County is a lowland tract, standing but little above the Rock River. The northern and western portions have an altitude cor- responding to those of Ogle County, with an average of 800 feet, some places reaching 900. Two narrow lowland tracts connect the Mississippi with the low- land bordering Rock River, one, the Meredosia Slough, and the other, the Cat- tail Slough. They stand so little above the level of the Mississippi and Rock rivers that they are filled in the flood stages of either stream. On the uplands in the county the drift is of variable thickness, generally thinner in the northern and northeastern portions. In the western portion from near Fulton southward past Gardenplain to Erie, the average thickness is fully 150 feet. In Henry County the Niagara limestone is the bed of the Rock River. Coal measures rest at several places directly on the Niagara limestone. On descend- ing the Rock River, the lower divisions of Hamilton limestone commence in the bed of the stream about a mile or so above Cleveland. They continue as the river flows to the west line of the county. Heavy seams of coal are worked extensively in the county. Sandstone and clays are also abundant. The surface is mostly high rolling prairie with soil good for agriculture. In Rock Island County, the surface of the Rock River area and the Meredosia flats belongs to the alluvial deposits. That part of the county north of the bluff line is a broad and level sand prairie, formerly a sand bar. The bluffs and hills of the county are composed of whitish-blue clays, sands and the marl deposit known as loess. Receding back from the bluff lines, the loess thins out and is succeeded by luminated drift clays. There are coal measures west of the Rock still containing marketable coal, while others have already been exhausted. East of Rock Island, bounded by Pleasant Valley, Rock River and the Mississippi, is a triangular piece of ele- vated land containing a mass of coal measures resting on Devonian or upper Silurian limestone. Other coal measures are freely distributed in all that part of the county south and east of the Mississippi and Rock River ranges. In every part of the county the coal measures are covered with a deep deposit of drift clays. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 23 The entire Rock River Valley contains much prairie with timber sections conveniently distributed. The region has a great variety of timber among which are found the white and black oak, ash, hickory, elm, cherry, white and black walnut, maple and other varieties. All in all, the valley was originally designed to be the theater of action for an enlarging population of Americans of mixed nationalities. BLACK HAWK MONUMENT FEOM LIBERTY HILL CHAPTER II. THE PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS OP THE VALLEY ADVANTAGES OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY FOR ABORIGINES ITS ATTRACTIVENESS THE GREAT VARIETY OF WILD ANIMALS FISH IN ITS LAKES AND RIVERS — ABUNDANT EVIDENCES OF PREHISTORIC OCCUPANCY THE INDIAN MOUNDS AND VILLAGES IN THE LAKE DISTRICT ABOUT MADISON TYPES OF MOUNDS — INDIAN HILL AT FULTON, ROCK COUNTY INDIAN VILLAGES ON LAKE KOSHKONONG THE INDIANS IN AND AROUND MILTON- — MOUNDS AT AFTON GROUPS AT BELOIT, ON THE BELOIT COLLEGE CAMPUS, AT JANESVILLE AND IN THE TOWN OF TURTLE CLASSES OF MOUNDS IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY BIRD AND TURTLE MOUNDS OF ROCKFORD BIRD EFFIGIES BELOW ROCKFORD PREHISTORIC REMAINS AT OREGON AND NEW ALBANY IN THE LOWER VALLEY MOUNDS IN ROCK ISLAND COUNTY WHO BUILT THE MOUNDS? THE RED MEN OF THE VALLEY ABORIGINES LINKED WITH THE WISCONSIN TRIBES — BLACK HAWK ON INDIAN LIFE IN THE VALLEY INDIAN BALL GAME AS DESCRIBED BY CATLIN— CRANE DANCE — INDIAN MIGRATIONS IN THE VALLEY — THE WINNEBAGOES, THE ILLINOIS POTTAWATOMI THE KICK- APOUS THE SAUK AND THE FOXES, AND THEIR LONG ALLIANCE} — BLACK HAWK'S VILLAGE, ITS LOCATION, DESCRIPTION AND TRAILS LEADING THEREFROM THE FUR TRADE OF THE SAUK AND FOX INDIANS THE VALLEYS OF THE FOX AND THE ROCK, THE MOST DIRECT ROUTE TO THIS GREAT SAUK VILLAGE — EXPLANATION OF THE CLASH WITH THE WHITES PICTURE OF THE PRIMITIVE INDIAN LIFE. The Rock River Valley was an ideal country for primitive peoples. Its soil rewarded liberally the crude agricultural efforts of the Indians. Its forests, rivers and lakes offered attractions in game and fish. The beauty and fertility of its wooded river banks and of the stretches of sunny prairie were continual sources of delight to the early explorers and settlers. The written page has preserved vivid pictures of the primeval landscape. "The touching, delicate loveliness of the lesser prairies, so resplendent in brilliancy of hue and beauty of outline," writes an early traveler, "I have often dwelt upon with delight: The graceful undulation of slope and swell; the exquisite richness and fresh- ness of the verdure flashing in native magnificence ; the gorgeous dyes of the matchless and many colored flowers dallying with the winds ; the beautiful wood- land points and promontories shooting forth into the mimic sea; the far-retreat- ing shadowy coves, going back in long vistas into the green wood; the curved outline of the dim, distant horizon caught at intervals through the openings of the forest; and the whole gloriously lighted up by the early radiance of morn- ing; all these constituted a scene in which beauty unrivaled was the sole in- gredient." The great variety of wild animals continually satisfied the desire for hunting. Herds of buffaloes roamed over the prairies; deer, elk, beaver, wolves, foxes, 24 THK ROCK BIVEB V ALLEY 25 opossums, raccoons, squirrels and rabbits were plentiful. Wild turkeys could usually be found in the hilly districts and prairie chickens and quails were in abundance. <>u the rivers and lakes were countless numbers of geese, ducks, herons, swans, cormorants and wood ibis. The fisherman then could find one hundred and more species of fish, including black bass, muskellunge, lake trout and white fish, which have always been the delight of the sportsman. ABUNDANT EVIDENCES OF PREHISTORIC OCCUPANCY In consequence, from the shores of its clear lakes in Dane County to its termination in the Mississippi below Rock Island, the Rock River Valley bears many evidences of prehistoric occupation. "It does not require a wild imagination to picture the Indians, hundreds of years ago, before Columbus had made his voyage and before the hardy Norse- man had extended his travels to Vinland, occupying the Four Lakes region, living their lives as best they might, erecting for worship, or sacrifice, or pro- tection, these monuments of curious mounds, the memory of the building of which even was not transmitted to their children's children." An important Indian village was located opposite the present Madison on the south shore of Lake Monona. It doubtless extended from Squaw Point (Win- nequah) around the bay to the south of the point and on around to the outlet. On the south shore of the bay, there are a large number of effigy mounds in a fine state of preservation. On these mounds trees are seen and stumps of still older trees. On the Yahara, at the outlet of Lake Monona, there is an ancient Indian burial ground with a collection of tumuli of various sizes. There is every evidence that the Indian village site is more than two miles in length. Jefferson Davis, in his declining years, writing to Dr. Butler, says that in 1829 when passing through from the South to Fort Winnebago, he camped one night on the future site of Madison and saw directly across Third Lake (Monona) an Indian village. In the same year Judge Doty and Morgan L. Martin, mak- ing a trip from Green Bay to the lead regions, saw a Winnebago village on Lake Mendota and another one on the south side of Third Lake. The govern- ment maps between 1830 and 1839 noted the existence of Indian villages there, also. The mound builders were the first human occupants of the Rock River Val- ley. According to Dr. Lapham, there have been four successive periods of aboriginal and Indian occupations: 1. The effigy mound builders; 2. The people wdio made the long mounds and large garden beds; 3. The builders of the round and conical burial mounds; 4. Those who made cornhills, the latter Indians known to be present since 1634. Many ancient works are found in the valley below and above the state line. Some of the mounds are seen at the very sources of a number of the branches of the Rock. The works on the Pecatonica consist of several oblong or circular mounds, situated on sloping ground extending from the top of a hill half-way to the Pecatonica. From one of these mounds bones have been taken ; while the exposed Indian graves along the margin of the stream have furnished a few glass beads and other trinkets. Near the junction of the Four Lakes of Madison, at a place known as Indian 26 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Hill, about a mile above the mouth of the Yahara, there was surveyed in 1850 a series of oblong mounds on the steep slope of a hill, converging toward a point where there is a dug-way leading to the river. Here the hill has an elevation of seventy to eighty feet, and, from its summit, the valley of the river can be overlooked for several miles above and below. Possibly this place was an important post of observation, with the mounds peculiarly arranged to guard the access to the water from the top of the hill. From Lake Koshkonong to the state line at Beloit, an almost continuous line of Indian mounds, Indian villages and camp sites extends along the Rock River. In 1906, 480 mounds along the shores of Lake Koshkonong were mapped. Forty- eight of these are found in five groups in the town of Milton in Rock County. The largest single group, called the Koshkonong group, containing seventy-five mounds, is located in Jefferson County on the west side of the lake. The site of a Fox village is seen on the west shore in Section 6 of the town of Milton, while upon Bingham's Point, on the east shore, is the site of a Potto- watomie village. Farther to the north on the Carcajou Point, on the west shore of the lake, a large Winnebago village was occupied by the portion of the tribe under the leadership of Chief White Crow, as late as the early '30s. In the town of Porter, two miles above Fulton, is a group of eight mounds; while another group is found one mile above Fulton. On the west side of the river at Indian Ford in Fulton are oblong and conical mounds and clear evidences of a village site. In the village of Fulton is an oval enclosure ; while there are conical mounds north of town and a series of mounds north and west and near the mouth of the Catfish River. A remarkably large group lies in Section 28 of the town of Rock in the village of Afton, at the west end of the bridge across Rock River. There are twenty-two mounds in the group ; five of them being circular tumuli ; three oblong tumuli; nine linear and five effigies. They are found close together in the northeast corner of the twenty-acre tract. The most beautiful of the effigies is that of an eagle, measuring seventy-five feet from wing tip to wing tip. Each of the three linears is seventeen rods long, while the longest of the effigies is sixteen rods. They lie upon a side hill facing southeast, looking towards the river. In the words of Horace McElroy, one of their surveyors: "Viewed as they were when we last saw them late in the afternoon of a perfect June day, facing the shining water and with the shadow of the old oak trees falling upon them, these forgotten places, these works of the ancient people, produced upon us an impression of interest and even of veneration that will never be effaced." Several groups are found in the town of Beloit, on the east side of the river, four miles north of the city. Three groups are on the bluffs and bottomlands in Sections 13 and 24 and consist of several effigy mounds north of Beloit; and a group on the old Weireck farm, now the Country Club grounds, two miles north of Beloit. At the north city limits, on the Adams property, is a group of conical, effigy and other mounds. The Eaton group is located about one-half mile north of Beloit College. On the banks of Turtle Creek in the southeast quarter of Section 36, is a group; while a large and beautiful group of conical, oval and effigy mounds is plainly seen on the Beloit College Campus. At Beloit is the village site of Carramana, the Walking Turtle, who was a prom- inent Winnebago Chief in the early history. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 27 Effigies are found on the bluffs in the town of Turtle near the state line; while others are located in other parts of the same township. In the town and city of Janesville are several groups of mounds. Along "Western Avenue, on the north side of the bend of Rock River in the southern part of Janesville, there was once an Indian village. CLASSES OF MOUNDS IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY Along the Rock River Valley in Winnebago County, Illinois, three classes of mounds are found. Numerous are those of the round type, from ten to thirty feet in diameter and from two and a half to five feet high. Less common are the oblong-shaped ones, although one is found within the present limits of Rock- ford measuring 130 feet in length, 12 feet at the base and 3 or 4 feet high. Those most commonly found of the effigy type are called Bird and Turtle mounds. Some fine specimens of this class are still carefully preserved on the grounds north of the city waterworks on the west side of the river. There are probably no less than 500 Indian earthworks within the limits of Winnebago County alone. In the vicinity of the confluence of streams are found these evidences of a former dense Indian population; near the mouth of the Kishwaukee more than one hundred have been surveyed by Professor T. H. Lewis and, doubtless, there were as many more near Rockton, before their demolition during the railroad construction. There are many prehistoric remains at Oregon, near Albany and in the lower valley. Near the mouth of the Rock River in the vicinity of Black Hawk's Watch Tower are numerous ancient mounds. The most interesting group is located one mile east of the Watch Tower Inn. It has twenty-two large burial mounds besides a number of low elevations about a foot in height, six feet in width, and fifty feet in length. Among these mounds are found numerous cornhills, not only between the mounds but extending up their sides. When we recall that our Indians held in highest reverence the burial places of their dead, we are forced to conclude that the presence of the cornhills prove that these mounds were built by a people of such remote antiquity that the traditions regarding them had been so long forgotten that the Sauk turned the cemetery into a cornfield. These mounds crown a high bluff from which an inspiring view is to be had over Rock River and its bottoms. Fragments of pottery have been taken from the mounds, while at the foot of the bluff along the river bank, some hun- dred yards from the mounds, particles of this clay product are found which are identical with that classed as typical Upper Mississippi or Northwestern pottery. The Sauk and Fox Indians and their contemporaries never made pottery. Neither the Kaskaskias, who were driven by the Sauk from the Rock River, nor the Kickapoos, who preceded them, ever used pottery. Mr. Clark McAdams, in his "Archaeology of Illinois" (Vol. 12, Publication of Illinois State Historical Library), has an explanation for the apparent differ- ences between the ancient Mound Builders and our Western Indians. He pic- tures the Indians who built these mounds as of an advanced type of civilization, capable of supporting themselves by a more or less intensive agriculture in 28 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY populous communities. Then into those communities wandered the buffalo, an animal before unknown to them. They discover that just to the west and crowding eastward, are hordes and hordes of these animals. Soon they learn that it is easier to make a living by the chase than by cultivating the soil. They drop their implements, retaining only what is necessary for the chase. To insure greater success, the tribe is divided into small bands, which follow the trail of the wild herds, and, in a few generations, have degenerated into the nomad of our western plains as our people found them. THE RED MEN OF THE VALLEY Thus, ere the white man arrived, various Indian tribes had occupied the several portions of the valley. These were continually linked with the Wis- consin tribes. The Rock River Indians were a stationary people in so far as the exigencies of war permitted. Relying largely on hunting for their sub- sistence, they gave much attention to agriculture ; being truly the first farmers of the region. Corn was their principal crop, though large quantities of beans, squashes, pumpkins and melons were grown. Of inestimable value was the wild rice, growing so abundantly in the marshes bordering the lake shores; as it furnished a dependable food crop easily stored and preserved. It was also the source, indirectly, of much Indian game which it supported. The forest, rivers and lakes of the valley, furnished abundant game and fish. The buffalo, elk and deer were easily found; while the conical huts of the muskrats dotted all the marshes. Black Hawk, in his autobiography, gives us a typical picture of life among the Rock River Indians. Broadly speaking, the year was divided into two parts: The winter's hunt, which often led the Indians far from their villages, and the summer season, which was spent in or near their villages. Black Hawk writes: "When we returned to our villages in the Spring from our winter grounds, we would finish trading with our traders who always followed us to our villages. We pur- posely kept some of our fine furs for this trade, and, as there was great opposi- tion among them as to who should get the skins, we always got our goods cheap. After this trade was over, the traders would give us a few kegs of rum which was generally promised in the fall, to encourage us to make a good hunt, and not go to war. They would then start with their furs and peltries for their homes. Our old men would take a frolic (at this time our young men never drank) . "When this was ended, the next thing to be done was to buiy our dead (such as had died during the year). This is a great medicine feast. The rela- tives of those who have died, give all the goods they have purchased, as presents to their friends, thereby reducing themselves to poverty, to show the Great Spirit that they are humble, so that He will take pity on them. We would next open the caches and take out our corn and other provisions, which had been put up in the fall — and then commence repairing our lodges. As soon as this was accomplished, we would repair the fences around our fields, and clean them off, ready for planting corn. This work is done by our women. The men, during this time, are feasting on dried venison, bear meat, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 29 wild fowl and corn prepared in different ways; and recounting to each other what took place during the winter. "When this function was concluded, the growing corn would be about knee- high and the young men would then set forth westward on a hunt for buffalo. Another party, composed of old men and women, would set out at the same time for the lead mines to make lead ; while the remnant of the population would leave in a third division to engage in fishing and collecting materials for mats. At the end of several weeks all would return again to the village ; the hunting party laden with dried buffalo and deer meat, the mining party with lead, and the others with dried fish and mats for the winter lodges. The return would be timed so as to enjoy the crop of summer vegetables, which had been maturing during their absence, and a mutual exchange of presents would usher in a period of feasting and rejoicing which continued until the corn was ready for roasting. "At this time another great ceremony took place with renewed feasting. The Sauk believed the corn to be a direct gift of the Great Spirit, and this feast was one of thanksgiving. Thus the Red Man preceded the Pilgrim in cele- brating Thanksgiving Day. Ball games, horse-racing and feasting consumed the time until early autumn, when the ripened corn was harvested and securely stored away in caches in the ground. ' ' Americans ought to be interested in a description of the great national ball game of the Indians. "From three to five hundred on a side play the game," says Black Hawk. "We play for guns, lead, horses and blankets. The suc- cessful party takes the stakes and all return to our lodges with peace and friendship. We next commence horseracing, and continue our sport and feast- ing until the corn is secured." "It is no uncommon experience," writes Catlin, "for six to eight hundred or a thousand of these young men to engage in a game of ball, with five or six times that number of spectators of men, women and children, surrounding the ground and looking on. And I pronounce such a scene with its hundreds of nature's most beautiful models, denuded and painted in various colors, running and leaping in the air in all the most extravagant and varied forms in the desperate struggle for the ball, a school for the painter or sculptor equal to any of those which ever inspired the hand of the artist in the Olympian games or the Roman forum." Describing the game witnessed, Catlin continues: "Each party had their goal made with two upright sticks (about twenty-five feet high and six feet apart) set firm in the ground with a pole across the top. These goals were about forty or fifty rods apart and at a point just half way between was another stake driven down, where the ball was thrown up at the firing of a gun, to be struggled for by the players. * * * Across a side line drawn from one bye to the other, the betting was all done chiefly by the women, who seemed to have marshaled out a little of everything that their houses and their fields pos- sessed. Goods and chattels, knives, dresses, blankets, pots and kettles, dogs and horses and guns; and all were placed in the possession of stake holders who sat by them and watched them on the ground all night preparatory to the play. "This game had been arranged and 'made up' three or four months before the parties met to play it, and in the following manner: The two champions 30 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY who lead the two parties and had the alternate choosing of the players through the whole tribe, sent runners with the ball-sticks, most fantastically ornamented with ribbons and red paint, to be touched by each one of the chosen players, who thereby agreed to be on the spot at the appointed time and ready to play. The ground having been all prepared and preliminaries of the game all settled, and the betting all made and goods all 'staked,' night came on without the appearance of any players on the ground. "But soon after dark, a procession of lighted flambeaux was seen coming from each encampment to the ground, when the players assembled around their respective byes; and at the beat of the drums and chants of the women, each party of players commenced the 'ball-game dance.' "Each party danced for a quarter of an hour around their respective byes in their ball-play dress; rattling their ball sticks together in the most violent manner, and all singing as loud as they could; while the women of each party, who had their goods at stake, formed into two rows on the line between the two parties of players, and danced also in a uniform step ; and all their voices joined in chants to the Great Spirit, in which they were soliciting his favor in deciding the game to their advantage; and also encouraging the players to put forth every effort possible. "Meanwhile, the four old medicine men, the judges of the play, had seated themselves at the point where the ball was to be started, busily, with their smok- ing invoking the Great Spirit for success in judging impartially the game. "The dance, with its picturesque scenes, was repeated every half hour dur- ing the night while the game began at nine o'clock in the morning. Then the two parties and their friends assembled and the game was commenced by the judges throwing the ball up at the firing of a gun. The six or seven hundred players endeavored to catch the ball in their sticks and throw it home and between their respective stakes. Whenever successful it counted one for the game. ' ' After the games the white traders appeared, bringing their stocks of goods — guns, traps, ammunition, knives and hatchets, clothes and gewgaws on which the red man had become dependent. These the traders parceled out to the men on credit, and all departed for the winter hunt, dispersing this time into small bands or even family groups. The length of the hunt depended much upon the hunter's success. It was always terminated with the approach of spring, when the maple sugar season opened. This concluded, all returned to the village, there to begin the round of another year. Following the planting of the corn, there was also a festival devoted espe- cially to the maidens, called the Crane Dance. On this occasion the young maidens adorned themselves with feathers and heightened their complexions with paint. Then the young men selected their wives. One July day, as they were scattered about their fields, hoeing the corn, there occurred the romance and tragedy of Indian Lover's Spring, so inter- estingly told by Black Hawk and reproduced by his interpreter, Antoine Le Claire. ' ' In 1827, a young Sioux Indian got lost on the prairie in a snowstorm, and found his way into a camp of the Sacs. According to Indian customs, although he was an enemy, he was safe while accepting their hospitality. He remained there for some time on account of the severity of the storm. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 31 "Becoming well acquainted, he fell in love with the daughter of the Sac, at whose village he had been entertained and before leaving for his own country, promised to come to the Sac village for her at a certain time during the ap- proaching summer. In July he made his way to the Rock River village, secret- ing himself in the woods until he met the object of his love, who came out to the field with her mother to assist in hoeing corn. Late in the afternoon her mother left her and went to the village. No sooner had she gone out of hearing, than he gave a loud whistle which assured the maiden that he had returned. "She continued hoeing leisurely to the end of the row, when her lover came to meet her. She promised to come to him as soon as she could go to the lodge and get her blanket, and together they would flee to his country. But, unfor- tunately for the lovers, the girl's two brothers had seen the meeting, and, after procuring their guns, started in pursuit of them. "A heavy thunderstorm was coming up at this time. The lovers hastened to and took shelter under a cliff of rocks at Black Hawk's Watch Tower. Soon after a loud peal of thunder was heard; the cliff of rock was shattered in a thousand pieces and the lovers buried beneath while in full view of her pur- suing brothers." The Sauk and Fox occupied a halfway place between the nomad and the farmer. They spent one-half of the year at their home village; the rest of the time they roamed over a wide extent of territory. As farmers, they lived in a fixed locality; as nomads, their baggage had to be as light as possible. They returned to their old cornfields as it required more than one season to change the prairie sod into a good crop-producing field. The migration of the Indians from the east westward, frequently changed the locations of the tribes in the valley. At all times they were closely linked with the Wisconsin tribes. An account of the movements in Wisconsin will help us to understand better the conditions in the Rock River Valley. Prior to 1600, northern and eastern Wisconsin was occupied by Siouan tribes ; while the southern part of the state belonged to the Illinois, who were members of the Algonquian family. Thus the Winnebagoes, of the Siouan family, and the Illinois were the aboriginal inhabitants of Wisconsin. The Winnebagoes then became engaged in disastrous wars with the Hurons to the east and with the Illinois to the south. After the Illinois avenged the treatment of the Winnebagoes, repeated disasters befell them in their clashes with the Iroquois. The remaining Winnebagoes pushed southward, gradually extending their territory until they came into possession of almost all the Rock River Valley. The Pottawatomi tribe was found residing on the islands at the upper end of Green Bay when the French first reached Lake Michigan. Early evincing a capacity for trade, the Pottawatomi played for awhile the role of middlemen between the French and the tribes west of Lake Michigan. They expanded extensively southward to Chicago, Milwaukee, the St. Joseph valley of south- western Michigan, northern Indiana and Illinois, ultimately as far south as Peoria. The Fox and Sauk replaced them in the Green Bay-Fox-Wisconsin region. The Foxes, Sauk, Mascoutens and Kickapoos, living earlier in the southern 32 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY peninsula of Michigan, migrated to Wisconsin in advance of the French. The Mascoutens soon left the state, having a negligible influence on history. The Kickapoos were living on the Fox River, not far from Portage, in 1670 and also in western Wisconsin on the river which now bears their name. They also were along the Rock in sufficient numbers to give that river, for a time, the designation of the "River of the Kickapoo. " They were always a migra- tory people. They joined the Foxes in the disastrous attack on Detroit in 1712 and, after the American Revolution, moved south into the heart of the territory of the Illinois. Always warlike and crafty, they enrolled under the banner of Tecumseh, and later joined Black Hawk in his attack on the whites. The Sauk and Foxes, driven early from their homes in eastern Michigan, left by the way of the upper peninsula and were found by the French in 1665 in the Green Bay region. Allouez, in 1669, found at the site of Oconto, a vil- lage of six hundred persons made up of representatives of the Sauk, Foxes, Pottawatomi and Winnebagoes. The Foxes began scattering along the Fox and the east side of Green Bay ; while in friendly proximity were the Sauks, with villages at Green Bay and elsewhere. When the French began their scheme of empire in the northwest, they sought the control of the native tribes. The Foxes proved an almost constant obstacle to the consummation of their purpose. The story of the long struggles of the Foxes against the French, filled the land for decades with deeds of horror. The dispute was over trade relations and the control of routes. The Foxes, as early as 1697, closed to the French the water route across Wisconsin. For a generation after the defeat of the Foxes at Detroit in 1712, the French strained themselves in the effort to destroy this hostile tribe. The resistance displayed by the Foxes, when retold, stirs the blood of the reader, as it compelled the admiration of the French at the time. The warfare cemented the friendship of the Sauk and the Foxes in 1733, which held the two tribes for one hundred years in closest alliance. After the confederation, they made several removals hard to trace. Eventually, they established themselves at the site of the modern Prairie du Sac and located at the mouth of the Rock River. In the Revolutionary war they aided the English. Against their village at Rock Island, George Rogers Clark sent an expedition. In the war of 1812 they are again found fighting with the English. THE GREAT SAUK VILLAGE The village, at the Watch Tower near the mouth of the Rock River, became the headquarters for the Sauk and Fox tribes. It was one of the largest Indian villages of the United States, having at one time an estimated population of eleven thousand. All trails led to this Sauk village. An excellent ford was located at the foot of the Watch Tower, where the Rock River flowed over a flat-rock bottom. One of the trails passed up the left bank of the Mississippi to the lead mines about Galena which the Sauk and Fox owned. Up the left bank of the Rock, a trail gave Black Hawk his direction in 1832 when he left with his warriors upon the fateful ascent of the river. Another trail known as "The Great Sauk" THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 33 led from the village around the south bend of Lake Michigan to Detroit and Fort Maiden, in Ontario, Canada. Other trails led southward to the hunting grounds in the Missouri country. One connected Galena with Chicago, by way of Big Foot's Pottawatomie vil- lage at the head of what is now Lake Geneva. Trails connected various mining settlements; while two well traveled ways led to Fort Winnebago (now Portage, Wisconsin) and to Fort Howard, Green Bay. Solomon Juneau, the fur trader, was at Milwaukee and two or three hundred people were living at Chicago under the shelter of Fort Dearborn. From Morse's Report we learn: "In the winter of 1819-1820, these two nations (the Sauk and Fox) had five traders, who employed nine clerks and interpreters with annual salaries of from two to twelve hundred dollars each, and forty-three laborers, whose pay was from one hundred to two hundred dollars each per annum. These traders, including the peltries received at the United States factory near Fort Edwards, collected of the Sauk and Fox Indians during this season 980 packs. They consisted of: 2,760 beaver skins; 500 mink; 922 otter; 200 wildcat; 12,900 muskrat; 680 bear skins; 13,440 raccoon; 28,680 deer skins, making a total of 60,089, the estimated value of which was $58,800. "The quantity of tallow presumed to be collected from the deer was 286,800 pounds. The traders also collected, during the same time from these Indians, at least 3,000 pounds of feathers and 1,000 pounds of beeswax. From their fields, covering 800 acres, they produced more than was necessary for their sustenance, so that about 1,000 bushels of corn is annually sold to traders and others. "The women usually make about three hundred floor mats every summer. These mats are as handsome and durable as those made abroad. * * * From 4,000 to 5,000 weight of mineral (lead) is dug during the season by those of the able-bodied men who do not go out to hunt. ' ' To this great Sauk village south of Rock Island, the valleys of the Fox and Rock were the most direct routes. Connections therewith were ever maintained. It was with the purpose of uniting his forces with the Winnebagoes that Black Hawk journeyed up the valley in 1832. He always upheld his right to hunt and fish in the region of the Rock. EXPLANATION OF THE CLASH WITH THE WHITES The ensuing clash with the whites is told in the next chapter. Before its narration, it is fitting to furnish here additional information which will enlarge our knowledge of the character and life of the Indians who first inhabited our valley. The distinctive physical characteristics of the Indians were brown skin, lus- trous black hair, hazel to dark brown eyes, and a somewhat smaller cranial capacity than that of the whites. To the whites the Indian seemed to be an enigma. The difficulty in under- standing them arose from the difference in mental experience. From the Indians' race experience, a consciousness had been evolved that responded to external stimuli in a way foreign to the white men. No orderly world, con- trolled by an omnipotent God, existed for them. Numberless irresponsible 34 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY wills, apparently as free as their own, occasioned the phenomena around them. There was no common meeting ground whereon the Indians and Europeans could secure a mutual understanding of such terms as law, treaty, honor and religion. PICTURE OF THE PRIMITIVE INDIAN LIFE The ease of livelihood disposed the Indians, somewhat, to indolence as the wealth of wild fruits, berries and edible roots went far to sustain life without much exertion, and game was abundant. The real staff of Indian life was, however, the maize. This was secured only by an effort as were the beans, squashes and other vegetables. The Indian, therefore, was greatly concerned with the cultivation of the soil. A cornfield once brought under cultivation was not lightly abandoned. This explains Black Hawk's refusal to give up the ancient domain of the Sauk and Foxes in the Rock River Valley. "In the summer after the crops were planted and again in the winter after they had been gathered and stored in pits in the village, the whole group would move to some spot in a milder part of the country, often a hundred miles away, and set up a hunting camp. Here they would spend from six to twelve weeks hunting all kinds of animals which could be made to furnish meat for the kettle, furs for clothing and ornaments for personal decoration, or which, in short, could serve any purpose whatever. The spoils of the hunt would for the most part be prepared for human use on the spot, the meat being cut into thin strips and slowly dried on a wooden rack four or five feet above an open fire; the pelts of the buffalo, deer, bear, and the smaller fur-bearing animals were dressed with the hair on if they were to be used as robes, or with the hair removed if they were to be made into any of the dozens of articles the Indians knew how to fashion out of dressed skins." The Indians often utilized the animals' bones in the making of weapons or domestic utensils. The teeth and horns of the elk and deer became adornments for the warriors or served some ceremonial purpose. Whenever a scarcity of meat was experienced, the Indians secured fish from the rivers or lakes. The Indians of the valley were not, however, great fisher- men. They did not trouble themselves to make nets for catching the fish. When they desired fish they entered their canoes with their bows and arrows and, standing up to better discover the fish, pierced it with an arrow as soon as they saw one. Their indispensable weapon was the bow and arrow. Simple were the bows, while the arrows were long shafts to which were attached the triangular stone heads that are still found on the site of many an old Indian village or battle field, and more easily in the various museums. Upon the Indian's skill in the use of the bow depended his livelihood and reputation and, ofttimes, his life or death in warfare. He supplemented it in the chase and in battle with clubs and knives. The clubs were of wood ' ' shaped like a cutlass ' ' with a ball at the end, or of a deer's horn trimmed of all save one or two tines. The knives were of chipped flint, much like the arrowheads but larger. Sometimes daggers were made from some long bone such as the shank of a deer. The men made the weapons. The warriors, in the division of labor, were required to furnish the families with food and furs and to protect them from THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 35 attack. To the women, assisted by the old men and children, belonged the tasks of preparing food and clothing, tilling the fields, building and repairing the dwellings, and carrying all baggage when on the march to and from the sea- sonal hunting camps. This sharply drawn line between the work of the two sexes was based directly on the needs of their modes of life. Their migratory life led them to develop two kinds of houses. In their permanent towns, substantial oblong cabins were built large enough to hold from six to twelve families each. Two parallel rows of saplings, bent together and lashed at the top, formed the framework, making thus a series of arches. These were covered with one or more layers of mats of closely woven rushes. The dwellings were thus water-tight and warm. A door was made at each end and a strip left open in the center of the roof for the escape of the smoke from the row of from three to five fires which extended down the center of t)n> lodge. Two families used each of the fires; thus a cabin might shelter as many as fifty to sixty souls. Mats covered the earth floor. In some houses a rude platform was built out from either wall to serve as lounging places or bunks. On hunting trips, mats made by the women that easily rolled up, were carried as baggage. On establishing the camp, a few poles or stakes were set up for a framework on which to hang the mats. Quickly adequate shelters were put up as satisfactory to the Indians as the most improved auto tents are to the auto campers of today. The lands cultivated or hunted by the tribe were the common property of the tribe. To the women who grew them, the crops belonged ; while the spoils of the hunt were turned over to the women of the family as soon as they were brought into camp. The household equipment was always regarded as belong- ing to the women; the men owning merely their own weapons and clothing. A large measure of generosity pervaded the unspoiled mind of the Indians. Pres- ents were exchanged on all possible occasions. Weak indeed was the Indian's possessive sense before it was aroused by the white man's greed. The tribal possession of land followed naturally as the result of the simple political and social organization of the Indians. Having received their land by descent from their ancestors whose bones were preserved in its bosom, they felt obliged to pass it on to their children. The alienation of the tribal title was to them an idea impossible of comprehension. The Indians did not under- stand the white man's concept of private ownership of land. The white man failed to realize how permanent in the mind of the Indian was the idea of inalienability of the tribal title to the land. These failures constituted for a long time a stumbling block to a mutual understanding being established between the Indians and the whites. The unit of Indian organization was the tribe. It was merely a large family made up of numerous clans or gentes, of blood kindred tracing descent from a common ancestor. The clan usually claimed some specific animal as the bear, wolf or fox as its special guardian or totem. No marrying within their own clan was permitted. On marriage neither of the parties changed their gens. These people, as all primitive races, were governed by the public opinion and folk custom. In consequence, these prairie children lacked much of hav- Vol. 1—3 36 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ing their freedom. They were restrained from childhood by unbreakable cus- toms. Their footsteps were directed by habit while the fear of consequences limited their wills. Social opinion enforced uniformity. As a result, the machinery of government was slight, informal and demo- cratic. The family council settled matters pertaining exclusively to the family. A clan council, composed of the heads of its various families, settled the affairs of the clan. A tribal council, made up of the chiefs of the clans, handled the problems of the tribe. The leaders in each group were of preeminence in valor and wisdom. They exerted considerable influence as they presided at the councils. The war chiefs were distinct from the civil chiefs who assisted so much in the adjustment of disputes and the determination of the policies of the tribe. The war chiefs rose to prominence due entirely to their capacity for military leadership. Waging war was largely a matter of individual choice over which the tribe had little control. This explains the difficulty the Europeans and Americans experienced in making a permanent treaty with any particular group of Indians. A warrior, to avenge a fancied or real grievance inflicted by a member of another tribe, or simply for glory, might invite others to join him in going out on the warpath. If the expedition failed the leader's reputa- tion suffered; if successful, he gained prestige and could more readily call out followers the next time. This made for more or less continuous warfare though the campaigns were usually brief ones. "Ordinarily," says an early Jesuit observer, "their par- ties consisted of only twenty, thirty or forty persons; sometimes these parties are of six or seven persons, and these are most to be feared. As their entire skill lies in surprising their enemy, the small number facilitates. * * * Their method is to follow on the trail of their enemy, and to kill some one of them while he is asleep, — or, rather, to lie in ambush in the vicinity of the villages, and to split the head of the first one who comes forth, — and tak- ing off his scalp, to display it as a trophy among his countrymen." The Indians were cruel to their captives. Often they burned them by a slow fire or, mutilating them, prolonged their lives for days. Cruelty to enemies and stoic patience under suffering were basic principles of Indian education. Individualism, so clearly disclosed in their form of government, was also deep-rooted in the family life of the Indians. Children, almost from infancy, were treated as responsible individuals. They grew up under little parental control. Their training was accomplished by general public opinion rather than by direct control by the parents. This was not due to the indifference of the parents; it was rather their definite purpose to develop their children into self-reliant beings. The Indians believed in the importance of the child to the tribe and clan. Dignified ceremonies were imposed by the clan in the marriage custom. The young man, upon proving his prowess as a hunter, indicated to his parents the girl he desired for his wife. This was usually done when the boy was eighteen or twenty and the girl three or four years younger. The parents, then with well developed and unbreakable custom, conducted the whole nego- tiations until the girl was led by her relatives and placed on a rug in the new home. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 37 The Indiana lived in a circumscribed world. Only the territory watered by the .Mississippi and the Great Lakes region was known to them. In their explanations of nature, they disclosed the limitations of knowledge caused by their circumscribed life. The earth, the phenomena of the heavens, the forces of nature and the various objects on earth were humanized by them. All inanimate objects possessed a magic power that might be used to aid or harm man. These, in the Indian's mind, all had to be propitiated. Surrounded by this magic power called "manitou" the Indians of the valley struggled, in fear, to continually appease the manitou beings to aid and not to harm them. The Indian believed himself watched and warned by these special protectors who communicated with him by dreams and omens. If his trap failed to catch animals or his bow did not shoot true, it was be- cause he had lost the good will of the manitous. Believing himself helpless without the support of some personal manitou, the Indian sought to experience his greatest spiritual triumph which consisted in winning the control of a manitou who became, thereafter, his personal guide. The boy, at the age of puberty, withdrew to an isolated place and purified himself by bathing and fasting. Then he worked himself into a trancelike state by dancing and often by the use of drugs until his manitou appeared and promised to be his guardian. This belief in manitous, it can be readily seen, aided the missionaries in the conversion of the Indians to Christianity. To the Indian no other religious ceremony was more important than the calumet dance. It was performed "sometimes to strengthen peace, or to unite themselves for some great war; at other times for public rejoicing, or to do honor to a visiting nation or personage of note." In the dance was featured the calumet, or ceremonial tobacco pipe, "fashioned from a red stone polished like marble, and bored in such a way that one end served as a receptacle for the tobacco while the other fits into the stem, * * * a stick two feet long, as thick as an ordinary cane, and bored through the middle." Marqnette wrote that "less honor is paid to the Crowns and Scepters of Kings than the savages bestow upon this. It seems to be the God of peace and war, the Arbiter of life and death. It has but to be carried upon one's person and displayed to enable one to walk safely through the midst of enemies, — who, in the hottest of the fight, lay down their arms, when it is shown. * * * There is a calumet for peace and one for war, which are distinguished solely by the color of the feathers with which they are adorned: red is the sign of war. They also use it to put an end to their disputes, to strengthen their alliances, and to speak to strangers. * * * They have a great regard for it, because they look upon it as the Calumet of the Sun; and, in fact, they offer it to the latter to smoke when they wish to obtain a calm, or rain, or fine weather." The tribes in the valley in the French period were not far advanced in art. While they made pottery it was of a very crude sort. Little or no men- tion is made of their basket weaving. The women had developed consider- able skill in the making of mats "by sewing together flat rushes with a twine made from bark or vegetable fibre roughly twisted." Yarn was also made from the fine underwool of the buffalo and young bear. They plaited or wove this yam into sashes, garters, bags and pouches. The Indians were naturally talkative, good natured and fond of a joke. 38 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Often observers formed the very opposite impression of them because of their extreme dignity of bearing on public occasions. Initially the Indians were amiable, honest, generous, hospitable, and loyal to their friends. Their in- evitable contacts with the white race, unfortunately, changed their natures for the worse. The following chapter will disclose the clashes of the races and the victory of the better-prepared white men in the struggle for the valley. This chapter has very properly recalled several features in the life of the earliest inhabitants of the valley. LILY BEDS IN KISHWAUKEE RIVER CHAPTER III. CONTACT AND CLASH OF THE RACES french contact with the sioux and illinois jean nicolet and the win- nebago allouez impressed by the illinois and pottawatomie in contact with the sauk and foxes the foxes as mischief makers massacre of the foxes and mascouten (1712)- — foxes besieged at butte des morts (1716) foxes still bar the french french form indian alliance against the foxes — the fox massacre of 1730 kiala, the fox chief, a scapegoat — sauk-fox alliance cemented — france and england clash in the ohio valley illinois country refuses aid to pontiac captain carver and the sauk birth and early manhood of black hawk black hawk turns his back on americans sauk and foxes divided in fealty the treaty of 1804 strength of illinois indians in 1809 — black hawk fails to carry fort madison black hawk's disappointments black hawk and keokuk contrasted the battle of campbell 's island zachary taylor 's expedition turned back indian treaties following the war of 1812 black hawk confirms treaty of 1804 the building of fort armstrong — real pioneers of the valley webb 's trip down the valley — the major long expedition keokuk and the sauk at prairie du chien — keokuk again America's good Indian genius. The first contact of white men with the Indians who afterward warred, hunted and fished along the splendid reaches of the Rock River Valley occurred in the Green Bay region of northeastern Wisconsin. The pioneer whites who thus met them in the seventeenth century were adventuresome and fearless Frenchmen, alive to the extension of the French domain, and Jesuit priests, equally brave in the extension of their church through the conversion of the heathen. FRENCH IN CONTACT WITH THE SIOUX AND ILLINOIS When the French first came into the Northwest they encountered the Winne- bago tribe, belonging to the great Siouan (Sioux) family, which was then located on the shore of Green Bay and in the lower valley of the Fox River. Nor could the French learn apparently of any previous residence of the tribe, for the "Jesuit Relation" of 1671 states that the Winnebago had always dwelt in the Green Bay region. Speculation as to the origin of the tribe does not enter into the scope of this chapter. It is here sufficient to note that prior to 1600 northern and eastern Wisconsin seem to have been occupied by Siouan tribes, while the southern part of the state belonged to the Illinois. The Illinois were classified as a unit of the Algonquin family, and, before 39 40 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the Sioux pressed down from the west and north and other tribes from the northeast, claimed the region west of the river to which they gave their name beyond the Mississippi and as far south as the Ohio. Their favorite territory was embraced in what are now the central and northern portions of the state of Illinois, with no definite boundaries between the Sioux and the Illinois coun- tries. The chief Illinois village was situated on the river, one mile north of the famed rock afterward fortified as Fort St. Louis and adjoining the present town of Utica. The Illinois confederacy or nation included five tribes called the Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Tamaroas, Peorias and Mitchigamies — the latter from whom Lake Michigan was named; which indicates a western migration of the Illinois from that region. The Kaskaskias made their home in the metropolis of the nation at the Rock; the chief village of the Peorias was on the lake of that name, nearly in the central section of the Valley of the Illinois, and that of the Tamaroas and Cahokias was below the mouth of the river nearly opposite St. Louis. The Sioux and the Illinois may therefore be regarded as the aboriginal inhabitants of the Rock River Valley, although the centers of their power were obviously north and south of northwestern Illinois. JEAN NICOLET AND THE WINNEBAGO It was Jean Nicolet, Champlain's brilliant under-study, who, in 1634, first came into contact with the Sioux tribe which has been identified as the Winne- bago. Under the instruction of his superior he had given nearly a decade of his young life to the study and consolidation of the Hurons as supporters and friends of the French. He was then (1634) sent as a peace maker to the Indian nation called the People of the Sea with whom the Huron were at war. His Jesuit chronicler, Father Vimont, states that Nicolet "embarked in the Huron country with seven savages, and they passed by many small nations both going and coming. When they arrived at their destination, they fastened two sticks in the earth and hung gifts thereon, so as to relieve from the notion of mistak- ing them for enemies to be massacred. When he was two days' journey from that nation, he sent one of those savages to bear tidings of the peace, which word was especially well received when they heard that it was an European who carried the message; they despatched several young men to meet the Manitourinou — that is to say, 'the wonderful man.' They meet him; they escort him and carry all his baggage. He wore a grand robe of China damask, all strewn with flowers and birds of many colors. No sooner did they per- ceive him than the women fled at the sight of a man who carried thunder in both hands — for thus they called the two pistols that he held. The news of his coming quickly spread to the places round about, and there assembled four or five thousand men. Each of the chief men made a feast for him, and at one of these banquets they served at least six-score beavers. ' ' The peace was concluded ; he returned to the Huron, and some time later to Three Rivers, where he continued his employment as agent and interpreter to the great satisfaction of both the French and the savages by whom he was equally and singularly loved." THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 41 Although there is no substantial disagreement among historical writers in identifying the Indians whom Nicolet visited as Winnebago, there has always been a dispute among them as to the extent of his trip and the location of his peace treaty. But they do agree that the main event occurred in the Green Bay region. One of the Wisconsin historians, however (Consul W. Butter- field), argues that Nicolet, during this expedition, visited the Mascouten on the upper Fox and made an extended journey among the Illinois far to the south in either southern Wisconsin or northern Illinois. Reuben G. Thwaites has Nicolet follow the "grand traverse" of the French voyageurs across the mouth of Green Bay to Death's Door Bluff and thence down the eastern shore of the bay to Red Banks, where the great peace festival is represented as having taken place. ALLOUEZ IMPRESSED BY THE ILLINOIS AND POTTAWATOMIE But to Father Claude Jean Allouez, the Jesuit missionary, sometimes called the Apostle of the West, is accorded the honor of a later and more intimate con- tact with the Indians with whom, more than all others, are entwined the modern fortunes of the Rock River Valley. In 1665 he reached the head of Chequamegon Bay, in the Lake Superior region of northern Wisconsin, on his hazardous mission to the savages of that far and wild country. In that locality were located Ottawa and Huron villages numbering several hundred souls. Friendly tribes were also in the habit of sending their representatives there, so that at his coming in October, 1665, he met Sauk and Pottawatomi from the interior of Wisconsin, and even bands of Illinois from the prairies far to the south, where the buffalo roamed and where they informed Allouez two crops of corn could be raised in a year. Chequamegon offered to the priest an excellent field for labor, and he pro- ceeded at once to establish his mission there, which he named, for the long and narrow sandpit which jutted out into the lake at the eastern side of the bay, La Pointe du Sainte Esprit. This oldest geographical name conferred by civilized man on any locality in the present state of Wisconsin has ever since been known as La Pointe. Allouez is said to have made more impression upon the Huron than upon the Ottawa or Sioux. To reach the latter, he was obliged to travel to the west cud of Lake Superior in a canoe. The Sioux were evidently "hard cases;" they were described by the earnest father as "above all the rest, savage and wild, appearing abashed and motionless as statues in our presence." A fact of much historic interest developed from Allouez' journey to the Sioux at this time; in describing the trip he introduces to geography the name Mississippi (Messipi). Of all the tribes whose acquaintance he made at Chequamegon, Allouez was most favorably impressed by the Illinois and the Pottawatomi. The home of the latter was at that time the Green Bay region, yet as many as three hundred of their warriors came at one time to La Pointe. They proved the most docile and best disposed toward the French of all the tribes encountered by Allouez. "They observe among themselves a sort of civility and also show it toward strangers, which is rare among our barbarians." Allouez baptized many of their children and a number of adults during the period of their sojourn at 42 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Chequamegon, and on their departure for their homes they warmly urged the missionary to pay them a visit the following spring. Even more pleasant was his intercourse with the Illinois. "I have pro- claimed the name of Jesus Christ here to eighty people of this nation," he writes, "and they have carried it and published it with approbation to the whole country of the south; consequently I can say that this mission is the one where I have labored the least and accomplished the most." Again he records: "The fairest field for the Gospel appears to me to be yonder. Had I had leisure and opportunity, I would have pushed on to their country, to see with my own eyes the good things there of which they tell me." IN CONTACT WITH THE SAUK AND FOXES The Ottawa at Chequamegon appeared to be as obdurate as the Sioux at the western end of Lake Superior, and after Father Jacques Marquette had relieved Allouez at that mission, in 1669, the latter had an opportunity to establish a mission among his friends, the Pottawatomi, in the Green Bay region. His immediate errand was to protect them against the maltreatment of some young Frenchmen who had settled among the Indians as traders; in fact, it is some- times impossible to determine who came first to these tribes — the priests or the traders. For several months he visited villages of the Pottawatomi and Sauk on the shores of Green Bay, and then commenced the ascent of the Fox River, to which he gave the name of St. Francis. Four leagues up the river, where now is the city of De Pere, was found a Sauk village, whose people had built a weir across the stream to enable them to catch fish. On the 19th of March, 1670, marked by an eclipse of the sun, the party headed by Allouez came to Lake Winnebago, to which, like Fox River, the priest gave the name of St. Francis. Crossing the lake to the site of modern Oshkosh, and passing through Lake Butte des Morts, they came to the mouth of the Wolf, up which they turned in search of the village of the Foxes, which the missionary had set out to visit. Although the Foxes received Allouez as though he were a Manitou, his account of them is not altogether flattering. Their village was quite large, hav- ing four hundred warriors and a much larger number of women. But they were at war with both the Sioux and the Iroquois. Although frequently assailed by the Iroquois, the Foxes did not retaliate, being ignorant of the use of canoes. Allouez partially gained their friendship, but held them as "stingy, avaricious, thieving, choleric and quarrelsome." His labors as a missionary, however, were counteracted by the misconduct of French traders; and this tribal bitterness against the French as a people continued for generations, and was especially shared by the Mascouten and Kickapoos, tribes kindred by blood, and like the Foxes, rude and warlike. The route to the Mississippi, by way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, lay through the country of the Foxes, and by the close of the seventeenth century, the dominant tribe had pushed farther and farther toward the west, during the period when French activities were dormant in its interior valleys. When it became evident that the Foxes threatened to bar all French travel between the great lakes and the valley of the Mississippi, as well as to bar all access to the THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 43 allied Sioux from the south, the French were stirred to action. Detroit was made the central metropolis of the tribes friendly to France. By the com- mencement of the eighteenth century such tribes as the Huron, Ottawa, Chip- pewa. .Miami and Pottawatomi had clustered their villages around Detroit, and although they did not always agree, under the skillful management of Cadillac the locality became the gathering place of all the tribes allied to the French except the Sioux. THE FOXES AS MISCHIEF MAKERS The Foxes of Wisconsin ignored the invitation, for several years, to move from the Fox River Valley to the Detroit neighborhood, but in 1710 responded to the number of 1,000 men, women and children, who constituted a large por- tion of the tribe. Following the instinct of their nature, it was not long before they were quarreling with their neighbors. Cadillac's successor, Dubuisson, with instructions from his superiors, reversed the former attitude of the French toward their old-time enemies, the Foxes ; and he may have magnified the conduct of the newcomers to further his own ends. At all events to the sev- eral Fox chiefs and representatives of other tribes summoned to Montreal, the governor of Canada thus spoke to the offending tribe: "I learned last year, Outagamies (another name for the Foxes), that you had come to take up your a 1 lode with my children at Detroit. I thought you would, at the same time, adopt their spirit and obey the will of him whom I have set there to command and to rule all the tribes of those districts. I learned today from the mouth of all men that you think yourselves masters of that place, and far from having brought peace there, you have brought nothing but disorder, and have shed the blood of my children there. I am very glad to tell you, Outagamies, that 1 wish the country of Detroit to be peaceful, that I encoui*age all my children there to take all possible care to that end, and to unite with me to succeed in it. It will only depend on you, Outagamies, whether there shall be rest and peace in these parts." To these plain words was added an injunction that the Foxes desist from the warfare they were waging with the Illinois and engage in a mutual surrender of prisoners, and an admonition to return to their former home in Wisconsin. "Pay attention, Outagamies," he concluded, "to what I have just said to you; do not draw down upon you all the tribes in the land. My opinion is that you would do better to go back to your old village, where the bones of your fathers are and a great post of your people also, rather than try to settle in a strange land where you may be insulted by all the tribes. Reflect once more, Outagamies, on what I have just said to you, for it is for your preservation." MASSACRE OF THE FOXES AND MASCOUTEN (1712) The French were obviously uneasy over the presence of the Outagamies at Detroit, fearing that they would join the Iroquois should the English induce that dreaded eastern tribe to attack the fort at Detroit. As the months passed and the Foxes did not return to their old home, that fear was strengthened. Whether the plan to destroy the allied Foxes and Maseouten originated with 44 ' THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the Indians or the French authorities is beside the fact that the conspiracy could not have been organized and carried into action without the collusion, or formal consent, of the Canadian government. The first blow was struck against a band of Foxes and Mascouten, who, in the winter of 1711-12 had absented themselves from their village at Detroit to engage in a hunt on the headwaters of the St. Joseph River. Fifty of them were killed or captured by a war party of Ottawa, but the Foxes evidently did not hold the French responsible, and were even taken by surprise when the greater calamity over- took them in the spring. One of the best accounts of the general massacre of the Foxes and Mas- couten which then occurred is given by Dr. M. M. Quaife in his history of "Wis- consin, published in 1924. It reads: "About the middle of May (1712), the 'army of the nations of the south,' composed of Illinois, Osages, Missouri, Sauk, Pottawatomi and other tribes, issued from the forest which surrounded Detroit. The Huron and other war bands were already on the ground, and, with the arrival of the new army, everything was in readiness for the attack. The French blacksmith had prepared a supply of iron slugs for Dubuisson's two can- non, and even the priest 'held himself ready to give a general absolution' in case of need. The French allies poured into the fort, where speeches were exchanged and supplies of food and ammunition were distributed. The war cry was now raised and the attack opened. 'The very earth trembled,' reports Dubuisson, under the tumult, and the bullets flew like hail. "The Foxes were clearly amazed at the turn events had taken. 'What does this mean, my Father?' demanded one of their chiefs, as the discharge of musketry began from the French fort. ' Thou didst invite us to come to dwell near thee; thy word is even now fresh in our pouches. And yet thou declarest war against us. What cause have we given for it? My Father, thou seemest no longer to remember that there are no nations among those whom thou callest thy children who have not wet their hands with the blood of Frenchmen. I am the only one thou canst not reproach; and yet thou art joining our enemies to eat us. But know that the Reynard is immortal, and that if in defending myself I shed the blood of Frenchmen my Father cannot reproach me.' Much else did the chieftain utter, which the chronicler has neglected to record. If we may judge from the fragment of the address which has been preserved the omission was a grievous loss to world literature. In fewer words than Lincoln employed at Gettysburg, this untutored savage of the Wisconsin forest has provided a defense of his people which his civilized opponent in a score of labored pages signally fails to overthrow; while the proud boast, 'Know that the Reynard is immortal,' uttered in the face of certain destruction, rings through the centuries like a trumpet blast from the Homeric age. "Taken by surprise, outnumbered four to one and handicapped by the presence of several hundred women and children, the Fox warriors put up a desperate resistance. Starvation, thirst and disease, combined with the effective- ness of Dubuisson's cannon, however, to extort from them at length an earnest plea to be permitted to surrender. Dubuisson professes to have been touched by compassion by their plight, but reflecting 'that war and pity do not agree well together,' he denied all quarter and made haste 'to have this tragedy finished.' But the Foxes were not yet at the end of their resources. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 45 "On the nineteenth day of the siege it rained and a dark night ensued. Tak- ing advantage of this, about midnight they slipped out of the fort and stole away. Knowing that they would be pursued as soon as daylight revealed their withdrawal, at a distance of several miles they halted and laid an ambuscade. Into this the enemy rushed blindly, losing twenty killed and wounded. A second siege was now begun which terminated after four days in abject surrender. No quarter was granted the defeated warriors; all but a hundred were slain, and these were tied apparently to be reserved for future slaughter. This pleasure was denied the victors, however, for all succeeded in making their escape. The conquerors returned to the French post with the enslaved women and children, where 'their amusement' was to shoot four or five each day. The Huron did not spare a single one of their captives. ' In this manner, ' concludes Dubuisson, 'came to an end, Sir, these two wicked nations, who so badly afflicted and trou- bled all the country. Our Rev. Father chaunted a grand mass to render thanks to God for having preserved us from the enemy.' " But the Detroit massacre, serious blow though it was to the Foxes and Mas- couten, fell far short of the destruction of "these two wicked nations." A report made by a Jesuit priest at Mackinac soon after its occurrence still places the number of their warriors at five hundred, and states that the French will always have reason to fear them; "for the Foxes, Kickapoo and Mascouten are found everywhere, and they are a people without pity and without reason." Far from throwing consternation into the ranks of the enemy Indians it trans- formed them into a united phalanx of implacable hatred against the French and nearly destroyed the fur trade of the upper country. They even concluded an alliance with the Sioux and opened negotiations with the Iroquois. POXES BESIEGED AT BUTTE DES MORTS (1716) In the spring of 1716 the French again moved to blot out the Indian menace to their prestige in the great region between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi Valley. They aimed to strike at the root of the trouble by finally crushing the Foxes at the seat of their power, the fortified village in the valley of the Fox River near Butte des Morts. The expedition which started from Montreal to accomplish this purpose comprised about four hundred Frenchmen, with a large supply of Indian goods and a complete outfit of the military appliances of that day, and about as many Indian warriors who joined the party en route. The Poxes who awaited them numbered five hundred warriors and three thousand women and children, and they had fortified their village by building a ditch around it and three rows of oak stockades. The "fort" was besieged in ap- proved European fashion, and the French commander was preparing to blow it up with a mine, when the Indians asked for terms of surrender. Under these terms the Foxes were required to make peace with all the tribes which were allies of France, and to compel the Kickapoo and Mascouten to do like- wise. All prisoners held by them were to be released and they were to supply slaves from distant tribes to take the place of such of their enemies as they nad slain during the war. Finally, they were to pay in peltries all expenses incurred by the French in their military preparation for the campaign. 46 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY FOXES STILL BAR THE FRENCH The only tangible result of the campaign and the surrender of the Foxes was to protect the lives of Frenchmen for several years ; but they renewed their attacks against the Illinois at Starved Rock, Peoria and other points and obtained control of the Des Plaines-Illinois route from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi as they had previously dominated the Fox- Wisconsin waterways. They pressed the Illinois steadily toward the southwest and soon obtained a foothold in the Rock River Valley, a third leading waterway between the basin of the Great Lakes and the valley of the Mississippi. It is little wonder that the French came to consider the Foxes as their evil genii among the red men of the west, the Iroquois holding the same position among the Indians of the east. In July, 1727, nearly a decade after the surrender of the Wisconsin Foxes to the French and fifteen years after the massacre of their braves, women and children at Detroit, they were still the stumbling block which barred the prog- ress of one of the white potentates of the earth. In fact, they were more in the way of the French than ever before. They had pushed the Indian allies of France from the splendid waterways and valleys, which marked the great routes of travel, trade and commerce between the lower lakes and the Mississippi Valley. Not only had they done this, but they had maintained their alliance with the Sioux and were friendly with the Iroquois. With a change of admin- istration in Canada, by which the Marquis de Beauharnois became its gov- ernor, the French renewed their efforts to remove the Foxes from their way. After a fort had been erected on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Pepin and occu- pied by a French garrison, as a step toward the severance of the Foxes from the Sioux, an expedition comprising nearly 500 Frenchmen and 1,700 savages, was directed against the Foxes of the Green Bay region in the summer of 1728. This allied force, so formidable for the times, did nothing more than to destroy several abandoned villages and many corn fields, kill a few squaws and old men, and beat an inglorious retreat. Fort Beauharnois at Lake Pepin was also abandoned. As the French soldiers met no Fox warriors on the battlefield, the conclusion is logical that they- still had a lively respect for the prowess of their savage enemies. FRENCH FORM INDIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST FOXES The Canadian administration next reverted to its former policy of setting their allied tribes against the Foxes. Urged on by the governor ' ' to destroy the Foxes, and not to suffer on this earth a demon capable of confounding or oppos- ing our friendly alliance," the Chippewa, Ottawa, Winnebago and Menominee all engaged in forays against them. The Sioux and Iowa, with whom they had heretofore maintained friendly relations, now denied them an asylum and they were assailed from every side. The Winnebago, who had long lived on terms of friendship with the Foxes had turned against them. Even the Sauk, Mas- couten and Kickapoo were finally won over by the French emissaries, and noti- fied the military commanders at Fort Chartres, St. Joseph and Miami of the contemplated migration of the Foxes eastward to the Iroquois country. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 47 THE FOX MASSACRE OF 1730 Their desperate situation did not deter the Foxes from waging bloody war against the Illinois, wherever they were encountered, and in the summer of 1730 they captured some members of that tribe near Starved Rock and burned the son of one of its chiefs. Word of this outrage was at once brought to the com- mander at Fort Chartres, several miles north of Kaskaskia and the military center of the Illinois country. The commanders at Fort Chartres, St. Joseph and Miami united their forces to be sent against the Foxes until they num- bered more than 1,200 French and Indians. The hard-pressed Foxes took their stand in a rude fort which they had hastily constructed near the banks of a small river. The locality where the desperate savages awaited the break of tho war storm over their heads has been approximately determined as near the town of Piano, Kendall County, and a short distance north of the Fox River of Illinois. The elder De Villiers, commandant at St. Joseph, directed the entire force and under his directions the siege was pressed with vigor. Trenches were opened and gradually approached the fort, the sorties of the Foxes were beaten back, and at the end of a week or more the famished and humbled Indians begged for their lives. The French commander was disposed to grant their request, but was overborne by a majority of his men and the Illinois contingent among his red allies. The Sauk, who were kinsmen of the Foxes, were dissatisfied with this decision and endeavored secretly to aid the besieged. Discovery of this plot produced an uproar in the camp and nearly a war among the Indian allies of the French. Many of them became discouraged and 200 of the Illi- nois warriors deserted in a body. The Foxes were pressed more hotly than ever and by the building of a redoubt the besieged were cut off from escape to the river. "The siege had gone on for twenty-three days when on September 8th a violent storm of rain and thunder came on. The night which followed was cold and stormy and under cover of its protection the Foxes endeavored to make their escape. The design was disclosed to the French by the crying of children and the besiegers promptly pursued them. During the darkness it was impos- sible to distinguish friend from foe, but the French Indians hung on the flanks of the Foxes and with the dawn began an indiscriminate slaughter. The Fox warriors, weak from hunger and long exertion, maintained their indomitable spirit to the end. The women and children and old men walked in front, and the warriors stationed themselves in the rear to shelter them from the enemy. But their line was speedily broken. Practically the entire company were slain or taken captive, to be tormented or reduced to slavery. ' ' The massacre of 1730 by no means destroyed the Foxes as a tribe or nation, but from that time for a century the Sauk, with whom they maintained an alliance and who had not been so much subjected to the wasting attrition of wars, were dominant in the coalition. It was the Sacs, or Sauk, who during this epoch of the decline of the Foxes founded their village on the north bank of the Rock River about three miles above its confluence with the Mississippi. Afterward they ranged the Mississippi on both sides of the river as far north as the mouth of the "Wisconsin and up that stream to the portage, and for 48 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY years were the controlling factor in the tribal movements of the Indians in eastern Iowa, northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. In the year following the crushing defeat of the Foxes near Starved Rock (1731), two of their chiefs were sent to Montreal to sue for peace; but while plotting to efface the tribe from the face of the earth the French authorities lulled its members into a feeling of security. The French drew in their claws, but in the autumn of that year allowed a war party of Christianized Iroquois, Huron and Ottawa to be sent against the villages of the Foxes wherever found. The expedition rounded the southern shores of Lake Michigan, stopped at Chicago, where they built a shelter for some of their sick warriors, and then headed northwest toward the great bend and portage in the Wisconsin River, where it was said the Foxes had assembled another village. From Chicago, the war party first pushed on westward to the villages of the Kickapoo and Mas- couten on the Rock River. These tribes were recent adherents to the French cause. The French-Indian forces were informed of a small Fox settlement of four or five lodges in the vicinity, and knew of the large village recently organized by the Sauk on the Wisconsin. Supplying guides for the excursion to the Fox village on the Wisconsin, the Kickapoo and Mascouten joined the other Indians of the war party, and the expedition proceeded on its way. The invaders soon came upon three Fox warriors, who retreated, and the pursuit developed the principal Fox village of forty-six lodges. The Foxes had been warned of the coming of the enemy, but were defeated in the engagement which followed, and most of their warriors and many of their women and children were slain or taken captive. Of those who survived, fifty or sixty men went to Green Bay and cast themselves on the mercy of De Villiers, who had been appointed the commandant there. KIALA, THE FOX CHIEF, A SCAPEGOAT The romantic story is told that the war chief of the Foxes, Kiala, who had long been the implacable foe of the French, voluntarily journeyed to Green Bay and offered himself as a hostage, or a scapegoat, for his unfortunate people. De Villiers carried him to Montreal, with others less famed, who had sur- rendered. The governor sent him to Martinique, where, chained in a slave gang, he soon died of grief and hardship. He has been described as "the insti- gator of all the misdeeds of the Foxes," but his noble self-sacrifice did not relieve their condition. De Villiers returned to Green Bay bearing orders "to take every proper precaution, by means of the nations which are faithful to us, to bring all the Reynards to Montreal or to destroy them." In the event the "wretched rem- nant" of the tribe would not obey, he was "to kill them without thinking of making a single prisoner, so as not to leave one of the race alive in the upper country." The fate of those taken to Canada was, of course, to be that of Kiala, reduction to slavery either in Canada or the West Indies. SAUK-FOX ALLIANCE CEMENTED The prosecution of such bloody measures had the effect of cementing the old-time friendship which had been temporarily broken between the Sauk and THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 49 Foxes. The surviving members of the Fox tribe had been granted asylum in the Sank village which stood on the site of the modern city of Green Bay, and thither came De Villiers, tracking his prey, in September, 1733. Accompany- ing the French escort were two of his sons. The French commander distributed his small force so as to cut off the Foxes from escape, and then held a parley with the chiefs of the Sauk village and ordered them to deliver the Fox refugees. This they refused to do and while endeavoring to enter their camp to secure the Foxes the Indians fired upon the French-Indian forces and killed one of De Villiers' sons, two leading French officers and several other soldiers. For three days the Sauk defended their fort and their Fox friends. They then abandoned their village and retreated toward the southwest, but toward evening were overtaken by the invaders about eight leagues away. A sharp engagement ensued, which seems to have been a pitched battle, with serious fatalities on both sides considering the small forces engaged. The locality where it was fought is known as Butte des Morts. As well stated by Professor Quaife in his Wisconsin history: "Whose ever the responsibility, the embroilment of the French with the Sauk on that autumn day in 1733 produced consequences which endured for more than a century and left an abiding mark on the history of the Western country. The Sauk, having now to fear the vengeance of France, withdrew from the bay where they had lived for two generations, and found refuge among the Sioux of eastern Iowa. The permanent alliance of the two tribes, which endured for decades after the French flag had disappeared forever from North America, dates from this time. From this time, also, dates the establishment of the allied tribes in Southwestern Wisconsin and along the Mississippi in the neigh- boring states of Illinois and Iowa, where they remained in firm control until displaced by the on-coming tide of American settlement in the second quarter of the nineteenth century." FRANCE AND ENGLAND CLASH IN THE OHIO VALLEY For fifteen years or more after the power of the Foxes was broken in the northwest, France and England were busy across the water in their endeavors to disentangle their European complications, leaving the Indians between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi River to settle their quarrels without white interference. With the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, the two great powers which clashed in that domain proceeded to settle their differences. As their claims overlapped more intimately in the Ohio Valley than elsewhere and that region was the eastern entrance to the greater valley of the Mississippi, the logic of circumstances at that time determined the theater of the coming con- flict. The earliest clashes were of a commercial nature, the French trading posts and those established by the Ohio Land Company meeting in the Alle- gheny region. England considered these advanced trading posts as indica- tions of French aggression into her territory. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia was a stockholder in the Ohio Land Company and was especially interested in its extension, as well as concerned in the limitation of French influence. He selected Major George Washington, the young adjutant general of the Virginia militia, to investigate their activities in the Ohio Valley. In company with 50 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Christopher Gist, the agent of the Ohio Land Company, the athletic and sturdy young Virginian, made the perilous journey in the late fall and winter of 1753, and obtained the information which confirmed the English in their sus- picions that the French were laying their plans to take possession of the entire valley. The Ohio Company had already begun the construction of a fort at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, which thus commanded the head of the Ohio Valley, and in the spring of 1754 Major Washington was ordered thither to complete it. He set out from Alexandria, Virginia, with a force of 150 men, but was so delayed that when he arrived at his objective he found that the enemy had forestalled him. A force of about 1,000 French- men, with a small park of light artillery, had suddenly appeared before the uncompleted fort and, after driving away the few militiamen and workmen who formed its garrison, had taken possession. The French completed the work and named it Fort Duquesne after the governor of Canada. For several years thereafter, Fort Duquesne, at the head of the Ohio Valley and Fort Chartres, in the Kaskaskia region of the Mississippi Valley, were the military keynotes to the dominion of France in North America. In the very year that the English fort was seized and christened Duquesne, Fort Chartres was erected on an enlarged scale, wood being replaced by stone and the new fortress modernized in construction and equipment. In fact, it was afterward pronounced by Eng- lish officers as the ' ' most convenient and best-built fort in North America. ' ' Soon after the withdrawal of Washington from Fort Duquesne his men attacked and defeated a small French force, commanded by Sieur de Jumon- ville de Villiers who was killed in the engagement. Coulon de Villiers was then sent from Montreal to Fort Duquesne to avenge the death of his brother, and in July, 1754, attacked Washington with a greatly superior force at what was known as Great Meadows. The American commander had erected a tem- porary fortification which he called Fort Necessity. He was obliged to sur- render, and on the following morning (July 4th) the vanquished were per- mitted to retire to Virginia, leaving the French in control of the Ohio Valley. Their possession of it was apparently confirmed by the disastrous defeat of General Edward Braddock near Fort Duquesne in July, 1755. With the entrance of Pitt into the war movements of Great Britain, active operations were once more resumed in the Ohio Valley. The chief objective of the British campaigns for the control of the Ohio Valley continued to be Fort Duquesne, although before it was finally reduced it was necessary to break the military power of France on the North American continent. For several years, however, the French with their Indian allies, were uniformly successful. Even when Pitt poured his British regulars into the country, it was long before they could adapt themselves to the Indian modes of warfare; and the red allies of France, after all, were the determin- ing factor of the British defeats which marked the earlier portion of the war. The years 1756 and 1757 were years of disaster to the British, General Mont- calm having been called from France to command the combined forces of his country. Oswego was burned and several thousand British prisoners taken. Montcalm also reduced Fort William Henry at the south end of Lake George and the gateway to Albany, advancing for that purpose from Ticonderoga. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 51 Nearly half his force of six thousand men were Indians. They represented no less than forty tribes and sub-tribes, drawn from a territory which stretched from the Atlantic coast to Lake Superior and beyond the Mississippi and from the country of the southern Illinois. Among the thousand warriors who had come from the west in response to the summons of Montcalm were Sauk, Foxes, Winnebago, Menominee, Chippewa, Huron and Ottawa. Among the last-named hand was Charles Langlade, the half-breed born of a French officer and an Ottawa princess and claimed by some weighty authorities as chiefly responsible for Braddock's defeat. When Fort William Henry fell in 1757 before the allied French and Indian forces, its garrison set out for Fort Edward under the protection of a French escort. .Mod teal tn is said to have obtained from the Indian chiefs in the expedi- tion a promise that their warriors should not molest the English prisoners. Whomsoever was at fault, the unarmed and helpless prisoners were attacked by the Indians and many were slain or captured before the French commander stayed the massacre. One of the colonial officers who survived the massacre and wrote a moving description of his experiences was Captain Jonathan Carver, a young New England man and civil engineer who had entered the service of Great Britain in her military operations against the French. But more of Captain Carver hereafter, as his future movements directly concern the explora- tions and knowledge of the Rock River Valley. The first step toward the severance of French communication between Canada and the Ohio Valley was the capture and burning of Fort Frontenae by the British in August, 1758. That stronghold was at the outlet of Lake Ontario and stood upon the present site of Kingston. As the British now considered that a favorable opportunity had arrived for the capture of Fort Duquesne, and their forces in America had been continually increasing, an army of over 6,000 men was organized at what is now Bedford, a number of miles southeast of Fort Duquesne. There were Scotch Highlanders, British and colonial regu- lars and militiamen from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and North Caro- lina. As was customary, the militiamen were considered inferior soldiers to the "regulars," but General Forbes, the general commander, had the wisdom to use their knowledge of forest and Indian warfare in the operations to be con- ducted against Fort Duquesne. A new fort was erected at Raystown (Bedford) and a line of blockhouses built to secure the British communications along the entire route. The commander also sent a Moravian missionary to the French Indians assembled in the vicinity of Fort Duquesne, who succeeded in severing the allegiance of the Ohio tribes; and the Delaware, Shawnee and Mingoes laid down their war hatchets and left for their homes. The steady advance of Forbes' army westward, and such news as the fall of Fort Frontenae, doubt- Less had their bearings upon the determination of the Indians in their desertion of the French cause. The French commander at Fort Duquesne was also short of provisions. At Ldgonier, a few miles from Pittsburgh (now in Westmoreland County), the British erected another fort, as an advanced post of the invaders. It was in command of Henry Bouquet, General Forbes being ill and unable actively to take the field. A reconnoitering party of Highlanders which he sent against Fort Duquesne was routed with heavy losses. But this disaster did not turn aside the main advance, and on November 25, 1758, when the column of Vol. 1—4 52 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Forbes' troops came in sight of Fort Duquesne it was found a mass of smoking ruins. The Indian allies had deserted the French as a body and the French garrison had blown up the fort the night before. A portion of the soldiers had started down the Ohio toward the Illinois, and another in the opposite direction to the French posts at Venango and Presque Isle. On the site of the ruined fort were erected a stockade and cabins, to which Forbes gave the name of Pitts- burgh. Then Fort Niagara was invested by the British, a force of western Indians and Frenchmen who had collected for the recovery of Fort Duquesne came to its assistance and were defeated, and the second French stronghold which might be considered an outpost of the Ohio Valley was compelled to surrender. The capture of Quebec, in 1759, through the historic battle known as the Heights of Abraham, at which both Montcalm and Wolfe lost their lives, decided the fate of Canada and the Valley of the Ohio. ILLINOIS COUNTRY REFUSES AID TO PONTIAC The campaigns of the British against the French and Indians in the east seriously drew from the man-power of the Illinois country. Many of the Indians of that region were drawn into the conflict and the French garrison at Fort Chartres was much weakened. Pontiac 's war of 1761-65, which was a fierce protest of the great Ottawa tribe led by the wily and able chief against the occupation of former French territory by the British authorities, had no direct effect upon the making of history for the Illinois country. In short, the Sauk and Foxes, the Menominee and Winnebago, held aloof from his conspiracy, which was largely composed of more northern and eastern tribes. The active participants in the war were the Ottawa, Shawnees and Delawares. and its immediate theater embraced the western frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania, It was not until the Shawnees and Delawares had been defeated by the British and made their peace that Pontiac renewed his efforts in the Illinois country to revive the war. St. Ange, in command at Fort Chartres, expressed his inability to support the Ottawa chief with arms, ammunition or warriors. Recognizing that the British held the reins of power, in August, 1765, Pontiac executed a treaty of peace with them, and less than four years afterward was said to have been killed by a drunken Kaskaskia Indian at Cahokia, Illinois, opposite St. Louis. CAPTAIN CARVER AND THE SAUK When Major Robert Rogers, a New Hampshire man who had made a wide reputation during the war with the French and Indians as a ranger, arrived at Fort Mackinac to commence his task of taking over the posts of the North- west from the French, Captain Jonathan Carver was a member of his com- pany. It appears that Rogers had gone over the heads of his colonial superiors and secured his commission and instructions from the home government in London. He therefore made very extensive plans, both for making Mackinac the center of Indian negotiation on the continent and a magnificent programme for explorations. The latter included explorations for the discovery of the THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 53 Northwest passage. To one of these Captain Carver was attached. The expedi- tion with which he was identified wintered on the Mississippi in 1767, but was deserted by the guides who refused to conduct the leaders up the headwaters of the river into the country of the Sionx and Chippewa. Rogers also had devised his plans on too large a scale and could not finance them from the government funds. He was therefore superseded by others less ambitious and more practical, and with the downfall of Rogers the employment of Carver also terminated. Carver, however, had a claim for his services against the British govern- ment and, while pressing it in London, published a book covering his travels in what is now Wisconsin for a period of fully a year. It obtained wide notice, as Englishmen were eager to learn what manner of country had come into their possession, and Carver's language was enthusiastic and graphic. He described and he prophesied with charm and vigor. Throughout his journey Carver paid much attention to the natural resources of the country. The land adjoining the head of Green Bay he described as "very fertile, generally level and the prospective view of it pleasing and exten- sive." Around Lake Winnebago the land is again reported fertile, "abound- ing with grapes, plums and other fruit." The Winnebago raised great quanti- ties of Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, squashes and watermelons, while the lake abounded with fish and in autumn with wild fowl of superior excellence. The latter quality Carver ascribes to the wild rice on which they fed. The contest between the French and the British for the possession of the Ohio Valley, winch ended in 1748 with the peace of Aix La Chapelle, had only an indirect bearing upon the movements of this history — only that the control of the Ohio Valley opened an avenue to the Mississippi. JONATHAN CARVER AND THE MODEL SAUK VILLAGE Captain Jonathan Carver, who was identified in rather a misty way with the initial steps of taking over the posts of the Northwest from the French, managed to become attached to a British expedition which found itself stranded in the valley of the Mississippi in the winter of 1767. He wrote an interest- ing book of his travels, graphically describing the country and the Indians which he encountered. On beautiful Sauk Prairie, where now are the twin cities of Sauk City and Prairie du Sac, Sauk County, Wisconsin, Carver came upon one of the leading villages of the tribe. "This is the largest and best built Indian town I ever saw," he reports. "It contains about ninety houses, each large enough for several families. These are built of hewn plank, neatly joined, and covered with bark so completely as to keep out the most penetrat- ing rains. Before the doors are placed comfortable sheds in which the in- habitants sit. when the weather will permit, and smoke their pipes. The streets are regular and spacious; so that it appears more like a civilized town than the abode of savages. The land near the town is very good. In their planta- tions, which lie adjacent to their houses and which are neatly laid out, they raise great quantities of Indian corn, beans, melons, etc., so that this place is esteemed the best market for traders to furnish themselves with provisions of any within eight hundred miles of it." 54 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY BIRTH AND EARLY MANHOOD OF BLACK HAWK The year that Captain Carver visited the model Sauk village on the Wis- consin River, not far southwest of the grand Portage, an event occurred in the metropolis of that tribe near the mouth of the Rock River. To the tribal medicine man and his wife was born a son, descended for generations without admixture of blood from ancestors who were said to have fathered the nation in the Canadian forests of the Montreal region. The father of this pappoose was Pyesa, a grandson of Nanamakee, or Thunder, a descendant of other Thunders and evidently in the line of the famous medicine men of his people. The full-blooded Sauk thus born to the tribal medicine man was given a name which has been variously spelled, but invariably translated as Black Sparrow Hawk, which was shortened into more direct and warlike form as Black Hawk. As Black Hawk inherited no standing as a chief, in order to assume leadership in his tribe he must attain it as a warrior. He developed into a sturdy youth, with bright, restless eyes, Roman nose and other pro- nounced features. He was thus developing into early youth at Saukenuk, when Colonel George Rogers Clark was endeavoring to securely occupy the Illinois Country for the United States. In 1778, in response to the messengers of Colonel Clark, the Sauk sent delegates to treat with him at Cahokia, opposite St. Louis on the Illinois side of the Mississippi. The conference won many of the Sauk over to the Amer- ican cause, although throughout the Revolutionary war, and long afterward, there were distinct bands of the Sauk and Foxes divided in their allegiance between the Americans and the British. Among the friends whom Colonel Clark found at Saukenuk none was more dependable than Le Main Cassee. a Sauk Indian. He not only prevented the British agent from securing re- cruits for his attack upon the Illinois posts held by Clark, but induced nearly half of the Indians already recruited to desert the British. Those who were friendly to the Americans were called by the British commanders "Bostonian Sauks, " and the Americans themselves, " Bostonians. " At a comparatively recent period, a letter in French was found in the British Museum, London, written by a British officer and agent to Major DePeyster, the commandant at Michilimackinac, picturing the situation in the Illinois country during April, 1779. Two of its pertinent paragraphs read: "Having learned that Governor Hamilton was in winter quarters at the Post (Vincennes), to continue in the spring his expedition, I set out to reinforce him by way of the Mississippi River with 280 men — Puants (Winnebago), Feauxavoines, Foxes, Ottawas and Seauteaux. After having made all the ab- solutely necessary expenditures, I descended the Mississippi to the Rock River (it was then the 4th of April), where I found the Sauks in small numbers, and a man named Le Main Cassee (the Crushed Hand), to whom I began to speak in your name; at which he stopped up his ears and would listen to nothing, and even ridiculed the threats you had made against the Sauks and Foxes last fall, to the effect that if you noticed that they were with the Bos- tonians, you would cut them off from the traders ; and he answered me, he and all the others, that they had arrows to obtain a living and that they were not worrying about that. Not satisfied with this insolence, I was forced to THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 55 leave 120 men, and I believe if they had been strong enough they would have seized me to deliver me to the Bostonians. "I continued on my way again with the rest of the party, to where I sup- posed the Feanxavoines were, as well as the Sauks from Wisconsin, who were all there, having arrived the 6th. I did not find any of your children, but I found some Bostonian Sauks. They refused my request, after I had spoken to them in your name, having received word from the rebels, and even threatened me to give information about my movements to the Bostonians. While this parleying was going on, news arrived that Governor Hamilton was captured (at Vincennes). This caused murmuring in my little camp, and still the Puants and Feauxavoines assured me that they would never forget me, their father, and that they would sooner die." Notwithstanding the friendly attitude and practical assistance of many of the Sauk, who were selling their horses and provisions to Clark's men, there was a strong enemy faction which had to be awed by the American army. How this was accomplished is thus told by John H. Hauberg, the Rock Island historian, in his booklet on "Black Hawk's Watch Tower": "In 1780, when a British force of approximately one thousand descended the Mississippi and attacked the Spanish post of St. Louis and the Illinois village of Cahokia, British failure at both places was laid to the Sauk and Fox Indians, who had been induced to join in the expedition, but who at the last moment remembered their past friendly relations with those whom they were now expected to engage in battle. It is not improbable that the Sauk and Fox Indians on this oc- casion held the balance of power as between the British and Americans in the Illinois country, for the situation of the latter was desperate. They had scarcely anything on which to stand except the grim determination of their leader, Colonel Clark. "Unfortunately, in time of war, the innocent suffer alike with the guilty. In order to show the hostile Indians of the Upper Mississippi and Great Lakes region that his army had teeth and would retaliate, Colonel Clark dis- patched Colonel John Montgomery, with 350 men, hot on the trail of the defeated British force, to destroy and lay waste the Indian villages to the north. Leaving their fleet of boats at Peoria, Colonel Montgomery and his men struck out into the wilderness, the trails bringing them to the Watch Tower village of Sauks. The hundreds of Sauk warriors there are generally reported to have been 'so recently defeated, they had no fight left in them.' At any rate, Montgomery met with no opposition, and the Sauk village, the home of our friend, Le Main Cassee, went up in flames. "But Montgomery, too, found himself a defeated man, for his supplies were exhausted. He could proceed no farther, and it was with the greatest of suffering from hunger, exposure and fatigue that he made the return journey." At the close of the Revolution, Black Hawk was in his sixteenth year, making progress as a Sauk warrior. At fifteen, having wounded an enemy, he was permitted to assume war paint and feathers and enroll himself as a Brave. Not long afterward (in 1783), he joined a war party which went against the Osages, killed and scalped an enemy, and was thereafter allowed to mingle in the scalp dance. His standing as a youthful warrior was further 56 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY advanced by the part which he took in other campaigns against the Osage villages on the Missouri. For nearly twenty years thereafter, the restless and fierce spirit of war which was always astir in the breast of Black Hawk made the rebuilt Sauk village near the mouth of the Rock River the hotbed of bloody excursions into the territory of the Osages and Cherokees beyond the Mississippi. The first successful expedition of magnitude which he led was executed when Black Hawk was in his nineteenth year, in 1786. At the head of about two hundred braves he and his followers routed and almost annihilated an equal number of Osages. Fully half of the Osages were killed outright and even the wounded were scalped, or driven from the country. Five men and one squaw are said to have been killed by Black Hawk, and in his so-called " autobiography, " published soon after the war with which his name is associated, he is. repre- sented as having said, "I had the good fortune to take all their scalps." The head warrior of the expedition, however, claims that the squaw was killed accidentally, although he could not forbear adding her scalp to his belt. A treaty of peace was concluded with the Osages soon after they sustained this crushing defeat by Black Hawk's warriors. Their fierce leader then or- ganized a party to invade the Cherokee country south of St. Louis. Black Hawk's father, who was averse to the project, accompanied the reckless young leader and his fiery young men on this warlike mission, thinking perhaps to curb their passions or protect them through the sorceries of his faith. The enemy was reached, after a long canoe trip, on the Merameg River near St. Louis, but although the Cherokees had a much larger force than the Sauk the ferocity of Black Hawk's attack carried all before it. It is claimed that the enemy lost twenty-eight and the Sauk but seven; but among the killed of the invaders was Pyesa. His loss was considered irreparable. He appears to have gained the same influence upon the tribe that Keokuk earned, years afterward, as the rival and checkmate against the ill-judged actions of Black Hawk. By the death of Pyesa, Black Hawk fell heir to the medicine bag. He immediately returned to his village, blacked his face, held and manipulated the magic bag for the succeeding five years, varying his religious functions with hunting, fishing and meditation. During that period, he claims that the Osages were constantly harassing his people. The Iowas, on the other side of the Mississippi, were also thus troubled. In 1800, the Iowas and the Sauk made common cause against the Osages, and about 600 of the united force under Black Hawk (again the blood-thirsty and intrepid warrior) moved against their southern enemy, then quite unprepared and unsuspecting. The large Osage village of forty lodges was destroyed and every inhabitant save two squaws was put to death. Upon returning to Saukenuk, Black Hawk made a great feast, at which the grand event was celebrated, his personal participa- tion in it consisting of the killing of seven men and two boys. Immediately afterward, Black Hawk collected another party and set out to invade the southern country of the Cherokees. But it was almost deserted and the disgusted Sauk warriors returned to their village. This failure to increase his reputation as a war chief perhaps prompted him to undertake, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 57 in 1803, the most extensive campaign of his life against the combined forces of the Chippewa, Osages and Kaskaskias. Seven pitched battles and numerous skirmishes were fought in this campaign, which netted to the Sauk fully one hundred of the enemy killed, of whom Black Hawk is credited with thirteen of the bravest warriors in the ranks of his opponents. BLACK HAWK TURNS HIS BACK ON AMERICANS Black Hawk concluded this campaign about the time that Louisiana be- came a possession of the United States. During the Spanish domination, the Sauk warrior had been a periodical visitor to St. Louis, accepting frequent presents and becoming very friendly to the governor, whom he designated as his "Spanish father." The publication written by a printer from statements made by Antoine Le Claire, a half-breed Indian interpreter, and Colonel George Davenport, the Indian trader, and issued under the designation of an "autobiography," puts these words in the mouth of Black Hawk: "Soon alter the Americans arrived I took my band and went to take leave for the last time of our father. The Americans came to see him also. Seeing them approach, we passed out of one door as they entered another, and immediately started in our canoes for our village on Rock River, not liking the change any more than our friends appeared to at St. Louis. On arriving at St. Louis, we were given the news that strange people had taken St. Louis and we should never see our Spanish father again. This information made all our people sorry. ' ' When the United States came into possession of Louisiana, the govern- ment under the direction of Jefferson immediately planned to bring peace to the warring tribes on both sides of the Mississippi River. The long-time feud between the Sauk and the Osages was then the uppermost and most serious contention between them and threatened to complicate the relations between the Spanish, British and American occupants of the soil. The former owners were still jealous of the Americans who were coming to claim the land, and the Indians were yet considered as possible allies. William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana Territory and District of Louisiana, as well as super- intendent of Indian affairs and commissioner of the United States delegated to conclude necessary treaties between the Northwestern tribes and the united Sauk and Eoxes, was the great agent in this proposed work of pacification. He first concluded treaties with the Kaskaskia and Wabash tribes by which the United States obtained a large extent of country south of the Illinois River, and then turned his attention to the Sauk and Foxes who roamed up and down the Mississippi Valley, and far up the Wisconsin, Rock and Illinois valleys. Except that they had founded a few villages in this wide domain, they were restless and warring nomads, and through certain of their chiefs, professed their willingness to follow the example of the Kaskaskia and Wabash tribes — that is, to cede the lands over which they roamed and which they claimed, in exchange for government annuities. The upper portions of these valleys. as well as the western shores of Lake Michigan, had been occupied with more or less permanency by the Winnebago and the Pottawatomi. 58 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY SAUK AND FOXES DIVIDED IN FEALTY Midway in 1804 the murder of three American citizens by a band of Sauk in the country above the Missouri called for an investigation by the United States to fix the responsibility and hasten the peaceful policy of the Govern- ment. In June of that year, Governor, Superintendent and Commissioner Harrison was therefore directed by the president to assemble responsible chiefs and head men of the united Sac (Sauk) and Fox tribes at St. Louis. The war party of the Indian Nation favored the protection of the murderers at any cost, but more conservative counsels prevailed, and one of the chiefs who had been the leader in the tribal division opposed to the United States offered himself as a hostage to Governor Harrison. Upon the arrival of the leading representatives of the united tribes, a positive assurance of penitence was given and a pledge that the tribes would never in future lift the tomahawk against the United States. THE TREATY OF 1804 Followed the negotiations for a formal treaty of session and peace, and on the third day of November, 1804, Governor Harrison and the five chiefs who were parties to it subscribed to its provisions. The agreement was to take effect upon ratification by the President and Senate of the United States. Under these conditions it became law on December 31, 1804. On the part of the Indian nation, the treaty was subscribed to by the chiefs Pashepaho (the Stabber), head chief of the Sauk; Quashquame (Jumping Fish), Layowvois, Ouchequaha (Sun Fish) and Hashequarhiqua (the Bear), in the presence of an imposing array of United States officials and army officers; and the name of William Henry Harrison led all the rest. By the treaty of 1804 the United States received "the united Sac and Fox tribes into their friendship and protection and said tribes agree to consider themselves under the protection of the United States and no other power what- soever. " The Indian nation ceded 50,000 acres of land to the United States in Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois, the boundaries of the great tract being as follows : Beginning at a point on the Missouri River opposite the mouth of the Gasconade River (east of the central part of the present state of Missouri) ; thence in a direct course so as to strike the River Jeffreon at a distance of thirty miles from its mouth and down the said Jeffreon to the Mississippi; thence up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Wisconsin River, and up the same to a point thirty-six miles in a direct line from the mouth of said river ; thence, by a direct line to the point where the Fox River of Illinois leaves the small lake called Sakaegan; thence down the Fox River to the Illinois and down the same to the Mississippi. These bounds, of course, included the Rock River Valley. The immediate consideration for the cession consisted of goods to the value of $2,234.50. It was also stipulated that the United States should deliver to the Sauk and Foxes $1,000 worth of goods yearly — $600 to the Sauk and $400 to the Foxes. The tribes stipulated, through their chiefs (as was then understood), "that a part of their annuity should be furnished in do- mestic animals, implements of husbandry and other utensils convenient THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 59 for them, or in compensation to useful artificers, who may reside with or near them and be employed for their benefit." As the laws of the United States had already been extended to the country embraced by the ceded lauds, the treaty provided that all offenses, such as robbery, violence and murder, should be punished through cooperation of the Superintendent of Indian All airs with the chiefs of the tribes, whether committed by whites or reds. White settlers upon lands which were still the property of the Sauk and Foxes should be removed, while the Indians should have the privilege of iiving and hunting upon the tracts which they had ceded to the United States. No persons should be allowed to trade in the Indian country without a license from the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, or other person appointed by the President for the purpose ; and in order to put a stop to the abuses practiced by private traders upon the Indians, the United States agreed to establish trading houses or factories where the Sauk and Foxes should be supplied with goods at a more reasonable rate than they had been accustomed to pro- cure them. The tribes thus brought under the protection of the United States agreed to make peace with the Osages. Finally, provision was made for a cession of land, not exceeding two miles square, either on the upper side of the Wisconsin or the right bank of the Mississippi, for the establishment of a military post, and for a safe passage of authorized traders and travelers through the Indian country. An additional article agreed "that nothing in this treaty contained shall affect the claim of any individual or individuals who may have obtained grants of land from the Spanish Government and which are not included within the general boundary line laid down in this treaty: Provided, that such grants have at any time been made known to the said tribes and recognized by them." It was this treaty which looked so fair on its face that, somewhat less than thirty years afterward caused the Black Hawk War. After it was all over, and its leader a prisoner, appeared the autobiography, or biography of Black Hawk, which passed through so many hands before it was finally published that doubts are thrown upon not a few of its statements. It is common report, however, that Black Hawk always claimed that the treaty of 1804 was not the voice of his people, and the "autobiography" tells the story thus: "Some time afterwards (following the advent of the Americans to St. Louis and Louisiana | a boat came up the river with a young American chief (Lieutenant, subsequently General, Zebulon Pike) and a small party of soldiers. We heard of him by runners soon after he had passed Salt River (which flows into the Mississippi below Hannibal, Mo.). Some of our young braves watched him every day to see what sort of people he had on board. The boat at length arrived at Rock River and the young chief came on shore with his interpreter, made a speech and gave us some presents. We, in turn, presented him with meal and such provisions as we could spare. "We were all well pleased with the speech of the young chief. He gave us good advice; said out American father would treat us well. He presented lis an American flag, which was hoisted. He then requested us to pull down our British Mags and give him our British medals, promising to send us others on his return to St. Louis. This we declined, as we wished to have two fathers. 60 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY * * * We did not see any Americans again for some time, being supplied with goods by British traders. "Some moons after this young chief descended the Mississippi, one of our people killed an American and was confined in the prison at St. Louis for the offense. We held a council at our village to see what could be done for him, which determined that Quashquame, Pashepaho, Ouchequaha and Hash- equarhiqua should go to St. Louis, see our American father, and do all they could to have our friend released by paying for the person killed; thus cover- ing the blood and satisfying the relations of the man murdered; that being the only means with us of saving a person who had killed another, and we then thought it was the same way with the whites, "The party started with the good wishes of the whole nation, hoping they would accomplish the object of their mission. The relatives of the prisoner blacked their faces and fasted, hoping the Great Spirit would take pity on them and return the husband and father to his wife and children. Quashquame and party remained a long time absent. They at length returned and en- camped a short distance below the village, but did not come up that day, nor did any person approach their camp. They appeared to be dressed in fine coats and had medals. From these circumstances we were in hopes that they had brought good news. "Early the next morning the Council Lodge was crowded. Quashquame and party came up and gave us the following account of their mission : ' On their arrival at St. Louis they met their American father, and explained to him their business and urged the release of their friend. The American chief told them he wanted land, and they agreed to give him some on the west side of the Mississippi and some on the Illinois side opposite the Jeffreon. When the business was all arranged, they expected to have their friend released to come home with them. But about the time they were ready to start, their friend was let out of prison, ran a short distance and was shot dead. This was all they could recollect of what was said and done. They had been drunk the greater part of the time they were in St. Louis.' "This was all myself or nation knew of the treaty of 1804. It has been explained to me since. I find by that treaty all our country east of the Mis- sissippi and south of the Jeffreon was ceded to the United States for one thou- sand dollars a year ! I leave it to the people of the United States to say whether our nation was properly represented in this treaty, or whether we received a fair compensation for the extent of country ceded by those four ( ?) individ- uals. I could say much about this treaty, but I will not at this time. It has been the origin of all our difficulties." STRENGTH OF ILLINOIS INDIANS IN 1809 Five years after the Sauk-Fox treaty, Illinois became a civil entity. It was formed from the western part of Indiana Territory and in April, 1809, Ninian Edwards became the governor of Illinois, As Great Britain was busy and adroit in her endeavors to wean the support of the Indians from Amer- ican interests, the new executive took the precaution to gauge the strength of the tribes within his jurisdiction. The enumeration made under his direc- tion showed that the number of warriors capable of taking the field in Illinois THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 61 was as follows: Pottawatomi on the Illinois River, 350; Pottawatomi on the Little Calumet, Fox and Kankakee rivers, 180; Pottawatomi and Ottawa in the Chicago region, 300; Kiekapoos and mixed tribes near Peoria Lake and on the Little .Mackinaw River, 330; Sauk and Foxes on Rock River, 1400; Winnebago, 4f>0. Indicating a war strength of red men within the limits of Illinois of more than 3,000, or a hostile population of 15,000, far exceeding that of the whites. BLACK HAWK FAILS TO CARRY FORT MADISON Thus iii the war cloud which was already looming between Great Britain and the United States, it was evident that the Indians of Illinois were to be a dark feature; and that the red warriors of the Rock River Valley might be a strong factor in the results of the western campaigns. About the time that Illinois was created a territory, the National Government completed Fort Madi- son at the head of the Des Moines Rapids and immediately above the mouth of the river as it emptied into the Mississippi on the west. British agents had won over Black Hawk, who first endeavored to twist the building of Fort .Madison into an infringement of the treaty of 1804, and afterward openly joined the enemy of the United States. He and his band are said to have assisted the Prophet in the Harrison campaign and shared in its disgrace. Less than a year afterward (in September, 1812), with a party of allied Winnebago, he infested Fort Madison and was repulsed. It is said that Quashquame and Pashepaho, the Sauk chiefs who were par- tics to the treaty of 1804 and considered friends, could not resist British and Black Hawk intrigue, and, after the little garrison had resisted every assault to take it for several days, entered into a plot to destroy it by strategy. The story is continued in Frank E. Stevens' "Black Hawk War" as follows: "These two were readily admitted to the fort, retired and called again and again, offering finally to entertain the fatigued garrison with a dance. The officers, to oblige the men, signified a willingness to witness the ceremony. Quashquame was to signal Black Hawk, who was to be near by, to rush in upon the men and murder every one while the dance progressed. Early in the day a young woman, who had formed a strong attachment for one of the garrison, appeared before Lieutenant Hamilton as though in great distress. She was taken inside the stockade and when free from observation disclosed the plot of the would-be assassins. Her simple story touched the heart of every man, and though their long siege had w r orn them down well nigh to despair, her love and devotion inspired a strength and courage which w r ould only falter when the spirit had fled and left the useless body a clod upon the field. "Lieutenant Hamilton caused a six-pounder, loaded with grapeshot, to be masked and ranged full upon the stockade entrance. Sentinels were posted with orders to allow no more than one Indian to enter at a time. Quashquame and his companions duly appeared and were admitted singly. The warriors within to a considerable number gathered about the entrance, the designated place, and began their dance, raising with their whoops and yells a din to heaven. Suddenly the dance was suspended by the warriors making a furious 62 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY rush for the gate, which conveniently opened. Confident that the plot had been successfully carried out by those inside, the others outside madly charged the angle. A lighted fuse, flashed above the unmasked cannon, brought those in front to a sudden halt, while those behind, by reason of it, were plunged headlong into a confused and confounded mass. Aghast at their miserable miscarriage, a general retreat was attempted, but this was not accomplished by Quashquame and his immediate followers, who were made prisoners. "Finding himself in disgrace and fearing condign punishment, Quashquame renounced hostilities against the Americans, was released, and, with slight exception, remained thereafter their steadfast friend. His followers, who were imprisoned finally confessed the plot in its every detail and when released, as they immediately were, maintained a lasting penitence." Black Hawk, on the other hand, since the declaration of war by the United States Congress in June, 1812, had openly aligned himself and band with the British interests. Previous to the Fort Madison affair the English trader at Prairie du Chien had supplied him with presents, money and ammunition. Afterward Black Hawk and 200 of his followers went to Green Bay to join the British expedition being organized there and was elevated to the rank of General Black Hawk and aid to Tecumseh. Leaving Green Bay immediately the troops marched past Chicago and joined the British forces at Detroit. The ruins of Fort Dearborn bore mute testimony to the massacre of American troops, women and children in the preceding August. The Pottawatomi were chiefly responsible for the outrage. General Hull, in command at Detroit, had ordered the evacuation of Fort Dearborn and the distribution of the goods on hand, but Captain Heald, the post commander, as a matter of precaution had given the Indians broadcloth, calico and paints, but withheld arms, am- munition and liquor. Red prowlers around the fort discovered broken muskets and casks of spirits, which so enraged them that it is thought to have brought on the massacre the following day. Without stopping to consider this act of the commander as one of self-preservation as applied to the garrison under his protection, Black Hawk, while passing Fort Dearborn, entered into the spirit of the red men with the remark, "if they (the whites) had fulfilled their word to the Indians, I think they would have gone safe." Before Detroit, Black Hawk had his first experience in an open fight with the Americans. He stated : ' ' The Americans fought well and drove us with considerable loss. I was surprised at this, as I had been told that the Amer- icans could not fight." The result of the Battle of the Thames, on August 5, 1813, brought General Black Hawk to this conclusion: "I was now tired of being with them (the British), our success being bad and having got no plunder. ' ' • BLACK HAWK AND KEOKUK CONTRASTED When Black Hawk returned to his village, rather discredited on account of the unsuccessful eastern campaigns which he had shared with the British, he found «that Keokuk had been made principal war chief of the Sauk nation. How his rival received this honor is thus told in his purported autobiography by Black Hawk himself: "Keokuk was introduced to me as the war-chief THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 63 of the braves then in the village. 1 inquired how ho had become a chief. They said that a Large armed force was seen by their spies going towards Peoria; that fears were entertained that they would come npon and attack onr village; and that a council had been convened to decide upon the best course to be adopted, which concluded upon leaving the village and going on the west side of the Mississippi to get out of the way. Keokuk, during the sitting of the council had been standing at the door of the lodge (not being allowed to enter, never having killed an enemy), where he remained until old Wacome came out. He then told him what they had decided upon, and Keokuk was anxious to be permitted to go in and speak before the council adjourned. "Wacome returned and asked leave for Keokuk to come in and make a speech. His request was granted. Keokuk entered and addressed the chiefs. He said: ' I have heard with sorrow that you have determined to leave our village and cross the Mississippi, merely because you have been told that the Americans were seen coming in this direction. Would you leave our village, desert our homes and fly, before an enenn r approached? Would you leave all — even the graves of our fathers — to the mercy of an enemy, without trying to defend them? Give me charge of your warriors. I'll defend the village, and you may sleep in safety!' "The council consented that Keokuk should be a war-chief. He marshalled his braves, sent out spies, and advanced with a party himself on the trail leading to Peoria. They returned without seeing an enemy. The Americans did not come by our village. All were satisfied with the appointment of Keokuk ; ' ' and Black Hawk himself professes to hold the same sentiment. He then visited his wife and children. "I found them well," continues the narrative, "and my boys were growing finely. It is not customary for us to say much about our women, as they generally perform their part cheerfully and never interfere with business belonging to the men. This is the only wife I ever had, or ever will have. She is a good woman and teaches my boys to be brave." Keokuk, the Watchful Fox, had been made principal war chief of the Sauk nation and as the younger leader already ranked him in civil affairs, Keokuk's superiority was doubly assured. The two were antipodal. Keokuk was amiable, balanced, cool of head, and logical yet eloquent if occasion demanded it, a peace maker and maintainer and constant friend of the Americans whom he had the good judgment to perceive would eventually be masters of the coun- try. Black Hawk was of unreliable temper, bitter in his prejudices, brave in the way of the red man and consumed by an ever burning fire against the alleged injustice of the treaty of 1804 by which a few chiefs made a bad bargain for his people and bartered away the tribal lands for a small mess of pottage. The elder Sauk had little of the forgiving or magnanimous in his disposition, was a warrior and not a statesman, and was utterly bereft of the character of the seer who could project himself into the future and see the inevitable mastery and development of his country by an alien race. No better antithesis of Black Hawk and Keokuk, both sons of the Watch Towei- village, has been written than that published in "A History of the People of Iowa," by Cyrenus Cole. It reads: "The names of Black Hawk and Keokuk must be included in any list of great American Indians. And measured by what they were and what they did, their names must stand near 64 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the top of .such a list. That out of a tribe numbering only a few thousand persons two such men should have been developed at one time is in itself remarkable. "The roles played by these two Indians are diametrically opposed to each other. Black Hawk's part was that of unavailing protest, and Keokuk's that of equally unavailing acquiescence. Black Hawk resisted, while Keokuk com- promised. Keokuk's course was based on an intelligent calculation of conse- quences, while Black Hawk followed the instincts and aspirations of his race, regardless of consequences. It came about that Keokuk was pleased with the praise of white men, while Black Hawk found no pleasure in anything except a satisfied racial conscience. Black Hawk died nobly in the virtues of his own race, while Keokuk passed out in many of the vices of the white man. History may praise Keokuk, but it must admire Black Hawk. "First of all, and most of all, the historian wonders how these two men, out of their meager opportunities, gathered so much human wisdom, and how out of their miserable surroundings they gathered so much human nobility. If it is true that many of their acts were brutal, it is also true that many of their thoughts were lofty. The beautiful imagery of many of their spoken words betokens both wealth of mind and health of heart. Only fine instru- ments produce fine music. In their speeches one comes often upon the evi- dences of a rare appreciation of nature, and of a philosophy of life which is almost profound. One discovers also the evidences of manners and morals; of things ethical and religious; and of that fairest of all human qualities, charity. Embittered rivals, they forgave each other. Keokuk intervened for Black Hawk when he was down and out, and Black Hawk in his swan song said, 'Do not blame him,' after he had depicted Keokuk as the cause of his great undoing. "Black Hawk and Keokuk read no books, and yet they knew and uttered the things that are written in books. But if neither one could read or write in any human language, is it not true that all the books are not printed ones? Is not wisdom expressed also in fields and in forests ; in meadows and in streams ; in clouds and in stars, as well as in books and pictures? What writers and artists garner for others, these Indians might have garnered for themselves out of the bounteous nature around them. It is worth while to study the man in the forest as well as the man in the library; the savage as well as the civilized man ; the primal as well as the final man. "Black Hawk was all Indian, but Keokuk had in him an admixture of Caucasian blood. Black Hawk speaks of his father, Pyesa, but his mother remained nameless; Keokuk's father had no name that survives, but his mother was LaLott, a half-breed. Among Indians he bore the distinction of blue eyes. But Keokuk regarded himself as an Indian. He was a Sac, and that meant a proud Indian. Physically, as well as mentally, and in their careers, the two men were opposites. Black Hawk was probably five feet and eight inches in height, thin and wiry; Keokuk stood nearly six feet in height, robust and massive. Black Hawk had an aquiline nose and his eyes are spoken of as the most piercing ever seen in a human head. Keokuk was described as a 'magnificent specimen of manhood,' and when he was wrought upon, as in speaking, he is said to have 'looked like thunder.' " THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 65 TUB BATTLE OF CAMPBELL *S ISLAND Soon after reaching his village near the mouth of the Rock River, Black Hawk and his followers were upon the warpath against the Americans. Prairie du Chien had just been abandoned by the British, under the supervision of Governor Clark fortifications were erected there and called Fort Shelby, and the new military post thus established by the Americans had been recaptured by the enemy. Another expedition then started from St. Louis in command of Lieutenant John Campbell, of the regular army. At this time there was a young lawyer of Cahokia, about twenty-three years of age, who afterward became governor of Illinois, member of Congress and a notable public man of Illinois; no less a personage than John Reynolds. In March, 1813, with three of his brothers, he enlisted in the United States Ranging Company or- ganized by Captain William B. Whiteside, a member of the old Kentucky family of Indian fighters. After Governor Reynolds' active and useful public life was nearly run he published a book, part history and part biography, called "My Own Times," and among its graphic and instructive pages are those dealing with the Campbell expedition to recover Fort Shelby. His ac- count reads: "About the first of July three barges, well fortified, with forty- two regulars and sixty-six rangers, set sail from St. Louis for Prairie du Chien. Lieutenant Campbell commanded the boat with the regulars, and Captain Stephen Rector and Lieutenant Riggs the two other barges manned by the rangers. "The expedition reached Rock Island in peace; but the Sac and Fox Indians in great numbers swarmed around the boats, but still professed peace. The barge commanded by Rector was navigated mostly by the French of Cahokia who were both good sailors and soldiers; and the same may be said of the company under Lieutenant Riggs, except as to the knowledge of navigation. "The boats lay still all night, at or near the Sac and Fox villages at Rock Island, and the Indians were all night making hollow professions of friend- ship. Many of the French, after the battle, informed me that they knew the Indians would attack the boats; and accordingly they informed Lieutenant Campbell, but he disbelieved them. The French said the Indians wanted them to leave the Americans and go home. They would squeeze the hands of the French and pull their hands down the river, indicating to leave. The Indians disliked to fight their old friends, the French. "The fleet all set sail in the morning, and above Rock Island the wind blew so hard that Campbell's boat was forced on a lee shore and lodged on a small island near the mainland, known from this circumstance as Camp- bell's Island (six miles east of the present Moline). The Indians, commanded by Black Hawk, when the wind drifted the boat on shore commenced an attack on it. The boats of Rector and Riggs were ahead, and could see the smoke of the firearms, but could not hear the report of the guns. They returned to assist Campbell, but the wind was so high that their barges were almost unmanageable. They anchored near Campbell, but could not reach him, the storm raged so severely. "When Campbell's boat was driven ashore by the wind, he placed sentinels and the men commenced cooking their breakfast, but the enemy in hundreds 66 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY rushed on them, killing- many on the spot and the rest took refuge in the boat. Hundreds and hundreds of the warriors were in and around the boat and at last set it on fire. Campbell's boat was burning, and the bottom covered with the dead, the wounded and blood. They had almost ceased firing when Rector and his brave men most nobly came to the rescue. Campbell himself lay wounded on his back in the bottom of his boat, with many of his men dead and dying around him. Riggs' boat was well fortified, but his men were inexperienced sailors. Rector and company could not remain inactive spectators of the destruction of Campbell and men, but in a tempest of wind raised their anchor in the face of almost a thousand Indians and periled their lives in the rescue of Campbell. No act of noble daring and bravery sur- passed the rescue of Campbell during the war in the West. The rangers under Rector were mostly Frenchmen, and were well acquainted with the manage- ment of a boat in such a crisis. Rector and his men were governed by the high and ennobling principles of chivalry and patriotism. Rector's boat was lightened by the casting overboard of quantities of provisions, and then many of the crew actually got out of the boat into the water, leaving the vessel between them and the fire of the enemy, and pushed their boat against the fire of the warriors to Campbell's boat, which was in possession of the Indians. This was a most hazardous exploit for forty men — forcing their barge to a burning boat in possession of the enemy, nearly a thousand strong, and tak- ing from it the wounded and living soldiers, together with their commander. "A salt-water sailor by the name of Hoadley did gallant service in this daring enterprise, by his superior knowledge of the management of a vessel. Rector took all the live men from Campbell's boat into his and his men, in the water, hauled their own boat out into the stream. The Indians feasted on the abandoned boat of Campbell. Rector had his boat crowded with the wounded and dying, but rowed night and day until they reached St. Louis. It was supposed the boat of Riggs was captured by the enemy, but the vessel was strongly fortified so that it lay, as it were, in the hands of the Indians for several hours, the enemy having possession of the outside and the whites of the inside, but the wind in the evening subsided and Riggs got his boat off without losing many men. "It was a general jubilee and rejoicing when Riggs arrived at St. Louis. The hearts of the people swelled with patriotic joy to know that the lives of so many brave soldiers were saved by the courage and energies of Rector, Riggs and their troops. I saw the soldiers on their return to St. Louis and the sight was distressing. Those who were not wounded were worn down to skeletons by labor and fatigue." Another contemporaneous account of the Battle of Campbell's Island which has been often quoted is that published July 30, 1814, at St. Louis, in the Missouri Gazette. There is some similarity between Governor Reynolds' story and the article published in the Gazette. The newspaper account also gives some facts which are omitted in "My Own Times." Prom the narrative given by the Gazette it is learned that the whole party ambuscaded in the Camp- bell Island region numbered 133, including boatmen and women. During the engagement with the Indians, three regulars were killed and 14 wounded on Campbell's barge, before Rector took the commander's crew aboard his own THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 67 boat. Two other regulars died on their passage to St. Louis. Among the severely wounded were Major Campbell and Dr. Stewart, the physician of the expedition. One ranger was killed and four wounded on Lieutenant Rector's barge. Two women and a child were severely wounded; one of the women and the child afterward died. On the boat commanded by Riggs, which at first was given up as captured and lost, three men were killed and four wounded. " Every account of the attack on Campbell's detachment," says the Gazette, "reflects highest encomium on the skill and undaunted bravery of Lieutenants Elector and Riggs of the rangers. The former, after a contest of two hours and twenty minutes, withdrew to a favorable position, which enabled him to save the few regular troops, as well from the flames which surrounded them as from the fury of the savages. The high wind which then prevailed, and the loss of his anchors, prevented his rendering a like assistance to Lieutenant Riggs. The latter, though stranded and in a hopeless situation, kept up an incessant fire on the Indians, and by a ruse de guerre afforded his party an opportunity of making the savages feel some of the consequences of their perfidy. He ordered his men to cease firing for about ten minutes, and at the same time ordered howitzers to be well loaded with grape and the small arms to be in readi- ness. The Indians believing the rangers to be all killed, or that they had sur- rendered, rushed down the bank to extinguish the fire on board Lieutenant Campbell's barge and to board Riggs'. Our hero then opened upon them a well-directed fire, which drove them in all directions, leaving several of their dead behind." zachary Taylor's expedition turned back To break the Indian alliance with the British in the West, it became evi- dent to the American military authorities that the first step was to control, if not subdue, the Sauk war party headed by Black Hawk. The valley of the Mississippi was in the hands of the British from what is now the Alton region to Prairie du Chien, with Black Hawk's village as the center of Indian hostility against the Americans. Major Zachary Taylor was therefore placed in command of an expedition having as its objective this gathering place of the Indians in alliance with the British. In August, 1814, it sailed from St. Louis on eight barges, and comprised between three and four hundred regulars, rangers and volunteers. John Reynolds had two brothers in it, but did not accompany it himself. Captains Vale, Samuel Whiteside, Nelson Rector, Hemp- stead and other officers commanded boats. When the expedition reached the Rock Island neighborhood on the 4th of September, Major Taylor found the islands just above the mouth of Rock River swarming with Black Hawk's hostile braves and a masked battery of six field pieces on the Mississippi bank ready to be served by a detachment of British regulars. Major Taylor had recently been promoted for bravery in action against Tecumseh, and Black Hawk was not loath to claim the engagement of Sep- tember 5, 1814, as his victory over the young American Indian fighter. The enmmander of the expedition makes a characteristic report of the affairs to Brigadier General Howard, at the head of the military district of Missouri, as follows: Vol. 1—5 68 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY "Sir: — In obedience to your orders, I left Port Independence on the 2d ult. and reached Rock River, our place of destination, on the evening of the 4th inst., without meeting a single Indian or any occurrence worthy of relation. "On my arrival at the mouth of Rock River, the Indians began to make their appearance in considerable numbers ; running up the Mississippi to the upper village and crossing the river below us. After passing Rock River, which is very small at the mouth, from an attentive and careful examination, as I proceeded up the Mississippi, I was confident it was impossible for us to enter its mouth with our large boats. Immediately opposite its mouth a large island commences, which, together with the western shore of the Mis- sissippi, was covered with a considerable number of horses, which were doubt- less placed in those situations in order to draw small detachments on shore; but in this they were disappointed, and I determined to alter the plan which you had suggested, which was to pass the different villages as if the object of the expedition was Prairie du Chien, for several reasons. First, that I might have an opportunity of viewing the situation of the ground to enable me to select such a landing as would bring our artillery to bear on the villages with the greatest advantage. I was likewise in hopes a party would approach us with a flag, from which I expected to learn the situation of affairs at the Prairie, ascertain in some measure their numbers and perhaps bring them to a council, when I should have been able to have retaliated upon them for their repeated acts of treachery; or, if they were determined to attack us, I was in hopes to draw them some distance from their towns towards the rapids, run down - in the night and destroy them before they could return to their defense. But in this I was disappointed. The wind, which had been in our favor, began to shift about at the time we passed the mouth of Rock River, and by the time we reached the head of the island, which is about a mile and a half long, it blew a perfect hurricane quarterly down the river, and it was with great difficulty Ave made land at a small island containing six or eight acres covered with willows near the middle of the river and about sixty yards from the upper end of the island. In this situation I determined to remain during the night if the storm continued, as I knew* the anchors of several of the boats in that event would not hold them, and there was a great probability of their being drifted on sandbars, of which the river is full in this place, which would have exposed the men very much in getting them off, even if they could have prevented their filling with water. "It was about four o'clock in the evening when we were compelled to land and large parties of Indians were on each side of the river, as well as crossing in different directions in canoes; but not a gun was fired from either side. The wind continued to blow the whole night with violence accompanied with some rain, which induced me to order the sentinels to be brought in and placed in the bow of each boat. About daylight Captain Whiteside's boat was firod on at the distance of about fifteen paces and a corporal, who was on the outside of the boat, was mortally wounded. My orders were that if a boat was fired on to return it; but not a man to leave the boat without positive orders from myself. So soon as it got perfectly light, as the enemy continued about the boat, I determined to drive them from the island, let their numbers be what they might, provided we were able to do so, I then assigned each THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 69 boat a proper guard, formed the troops for action and pushed through the willows to the proper shore; but those fellows who had the boldness to fire on the boats cleared themselves as soon as the troops were formed by wading from the island we were encamped on to the one just below us. Captain White- side, who was on the left, was able to give them a warm fire as they reached the island they had retreated to. They returned the fire for a few moments, when they retreated. In this affair we had two men badly wounded. "When Captain Whiteside commenced the fire, I ordered Captain Rector to drop down with his boat to ground and to rake the island below with ar- tillery, and to fire on every canoe he should discover passing from one shore to another which should come within reach. In this situation he remained about one hour and no Indians making their appearance he determined to drop down the island about sixty yards and destroy several canoes that were laying to shore. This he effected and just on setting his men on board, the British commenced a fire on our boats with a six, a four and two swivels from behind a knoll that completely covered. The boats were entirely exposed to the artillery, which was distant three hundred and fifty paces from us. So soon as the first gun fired, I ordered a six-pounder brought out and placed, but on recollecting a moment I found the boat would be sunk before any im- pression could be made on them by our cannon, as they were completely under cover and had already brought their guns to bear on our boats, for the round shot from their six passed through Lieutenant Hempstead's boat and shattered her considerably. I then ordered the boats to drop down, which was done in order and conducted with the greatest coolness by every officer, although ex- posed to a constant fire from their artillery for more than half a mile. "So soon as they commenced firing from their artillery, the Indians raised a yell and commenced firing on us from every direction, whether they were able to do us any damage or not. From each side of the river, Captain Rector, who was lying to the shore of the island, was attacked the instant the first gun was fired by a very large party, and in a close and well contested action of about fifteen minutes, they drove them, after giving three rounds of grape from his three-pounder. "Captain Whiteside, who was nearest to Captain Rector, dropped down and anchored nigh him, and gave the enemy several fires with his swivel; but the wind was so hard down-stream as to drift his anchor. Captain Rector, at that moment, got his boat off, and we were then exposed to the fire of the Indians for two miles, which we returned with interest from our small arms and small pieces of artillery, whenever we could get them to bear. I was compelled to drop down for about three miles before a proper place presented itself for landing, as but few of the boats had anchors sufficient to stop them in the river. Here I halted for the purpose of having the wounded attended and some of the boats repaired, as some had been injured by the enemy's artillery. They followed us in their boats until we halted on a small prairie and prepared for action, when they returned in as great a hurry as they fol- lowed us. "I then collected the officers and put the following question to them: 'Are we able, 334 effective men, officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, to fight the enemy with any prospect of success and effect, which is to destroy 70 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY their villages and corn?' They were of opinion the enemy was at least three men to one, and that it was not practicable to effect either object. I then determined to drop down the river to Lemoine without delay, as some of the ranging officers informed me their men were short of provisions, and execute the principal object of the expedition, in erecting a fort to command the river. This shall be effected as soon as practicable with the means in my power, and should the enemy attempt to descend the river in force before the fort can be completed every foot of the way from the fort to the settlements shall be contested. "In the affair at Rock River, I had eleven men badly wounded, three mortally, of whom one has since died. I am much indebted to the officers for their prompt obedience to orders, nor do I believe a braver set of men could have been collected than those who compose this detachment. But, sir, I believe it would have been madness in me, as well as a direct violation of my orders, to have risked the detachment without a prospect of success. I believe I should have been fully able to have accomplished your views if the enemy had not been supplied with artillery and so advantageously posted as to render it impossible for us to have dislodged him without imminent danger of the loss of the whole detachment." Obviously, it was the conclusion of Major Taylor that he could have mas- tered the Indians, had he not been obliged to contend with the British artillery. His expedition descended the river to the site where Warsaw now stands, nearly opposite the mouth of the Des Moines River and Keokuk, on the Iowa side. There Fort Edwards was built and Fort Johnson, a few miles above, was burned. This engagement between Zachary Taylor and Black Hawk centered at what was known as Credit Island. It was the only battle of the War of 1812 fought in the western waters of the Mississippi and virtually closed the war in the West, Reynolds says that he "saw in the harbor of St. Louis the boats that were in Taylor's battle at Rock Island and they were riddled with the cannon balls." INDIAN TREATIES FOLLOWING THE WAR OF 1812 The Treaty of Ghent which diplomatically terminated the war was not ratified until February 18, 1815, and even that did not deter Black Hawk and his followers from attacking Fort Howard and scattered settlers on the west side of the Mississippi. Sauk, Foxes, Iowas and Winnebago composed the bulk of these war parties. The United States then appointed commis- sioners to conclude treaties of peace with the Indians on the Mississippi and its waters who were still hostile to the United States. Those commissioned were William Clark, Governor of Missouri Territory and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Ninian Edwards, Governor of Illinois Territory and Auguste Chouteau, the Indian trader noted for his success in dealing with the north- western tribes. On May 11th they met at St. Louis and sent out both whites and Indians to invite friendly and warring tribes of the Mississippi Valley to meet with them on July 6th at Portage des Sioux, a small settlement a few miles above the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and nearly opposite the present city of Alton, Illinois. THE ROC K R I V ER VALLEY 71 Notwithstanding the counter efforts of the British to prevent such con- ciliation, when it became generally known that Andrew Jackson had been placed in military command of the western districts in which the Indian troubles had mostly occurred, the tribes which had been slow in responding were brought to terms. The first treaties were made on July 18, 1815, when the Potta- watomi residing on the Illinois River came into friendly relations with the United States, but the remaining Illinois tribes were still unwilling to be peace- ful. By September 2nd, however, the Kickapoo were induced to sign a treaty. On the 13th of September, the Sauk residing on the Missouri River reaffirmed their policy of peace, assented to the 1804 treaty and further promised "to remain distinct and separate from the Sacs of Rock River, giving them no aid or assistance whatever, until peace shall also be concluded between the United States and the said Sacs of Rock River." The treaty with the Foxes made on the following day, signed by twenty-two chiefs and warriors of that tribe, also confirmed the treaty of 1804. Through all these negotiations and peace agreements Black Hawk and a few of his followers remained aloof, but the pressure brought to bear against him by not only the authorities of the United States but by the leaders of the Sauk and Foxes finally dissolved his stoicism. BLACK HAWK CONFIRMS TREATY OF 1804 On the 13th of May, 1816, at a convention attended by the government commissioners, Black Hawk and twenty-one other head men of the Rock River Sauk accepted the proffered friendship of the United States. The chiefs and warriors who signed the treaty were, in the order in which they "set their hands and affixed their seals," as follows: Anowart, or the one who speaks; Xamawenane, Sturgeon Man; Nasawarku, the Fork; Namatchesa, the Jumping Sturgeon; Matchequawa, the Bad Axe; Mashco, Young Eagle; Aquaosa, Lion coming out of the water; Mucketamachekaka, Black Sparrow Hawk; Sakeetoo, the Thunder that frightens; Warpaloka, the rumbling Thunder; Kemealosha, the Swan that flies in the rain; Pashekomack, the Swan that flies low; Keo- tasheka, the Running Partridge; Wapalamo, the White Wolf; Caskupwa, the swan whose wings crack when he flies; Poinaketa, the Cloud that don't stop; Mealesata, Bad Weather; Anawashqueth, the Bad Root; Wassekenequa, Sharp- Faced Bear; Napataka, he who has a Swan's throat around his neck; Mashashe, the Fox; Wapamukqua, the White Bear. After reciting the efforts of the United States to effect a treaty of peace and amity with the Sauk of Rock River Valley and the rejection of all such overtures, it is charged that their continued hostilities "would have justified the infliction of the severest chastise- ment upon them." The United States forebore, however, and the hostile tribe "having earnestly repented of their conduct, now imploring mercy and being anxious to return to the habits of peace and friendship with the United States," the treaty of 1816 was made. The Indians confirmed the treaty of 1804, as well as all other contracts and agreements made between the Sauk tribe or nation and the United States. Before being restored to their standing prior to the war the Sauk were to restore all the property they had taken from Amer- ican citizens since the ratification of the Ghent treaty. If this was not done 72 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY before the first of the coming July, the offending Indians were to forfeit forever their proportion of the annuities provided by the treaty of 1804. THE BUILDING OF FORT ARMSTRONG Three days before the treaty of 1816 was concluded, the Eighth United States Regiment of riflemen arrived at Rock Island and commenced the con- struction of a fort at its lower point. It was to be built to carry out the policy of the "War Department (temporarily interrupted by the retreat of Zachary Taylor and his detachment) to establish a military post through which the movements of Black Hawk and his warriors could be observed and, if need be, checked. The fort was named in honor of General John Armstrong, former Secretary of War. The negotiation of the treaty did not halt the building of the fort, and its final completion was doubtless a greater source of restraint to Black Hawk and other Pro-British Indians than all the treaties which were concluded before the precipitation of the war which bore his name sixteen years afterward. Naturally, the fiery Sauk warrior witnessed this military movement in the very shadow of his village with marked displeasure. He looked upon it both as an invasion of his country and his gods, and is credited with the following charge of sacrilege in connection with the building of the fort: "A good spirit had care of it (the island), who lived in a cave in the rocks immediately under the place where the fort now stands, and has often been seen by our people. He was white, with large wings like a swan's, but ten times larger. We were particular not to make much noise in that part of the island which he inhabited for fear of disturbing him. But the noise of the fort has since driven him away, and no doubt a bad spirit has taken his place." REAL PIONEERS OF THE VALLEY Fort Armstrong soon became the nucleus of the first permanent settlement in the Rock River Valley. Among those who arrived with its builders to take advantage of its protection and assist in its construction was George Davenport, gallant soldier in war, and army commissary and thrifty trader in peace. Like other English-American soldiers and adventurers he brought his wife with him; and she was the first American woman to ascend the Mis- sissippi to that point. In the following year after Mr. Davenport settled on Rock Island and commenced to trade with the Indians, his good wife bore him a son, George L. Davenport, the first native white child of the Rock River Valley. This addition to his family doubtless suggested expansion to the hus- band and father and he erected a double log cabin which combined living quarters, with trading accommodations. His competitor, Antoine Leclaire, French trader and half-breed, then settled on the north bank of the Rock River among his Indian relatives at Saukenuk. While the settlement at the foot of the valley was commencing to take shape, the head of the valley was being agitated by an increasing migration into the Galena lead district. The result was that the contact of white explorers, adventurers and home-seekers, with the Sauk of the lower valley and the Winnebago and Pottawatomi of the upper region became pronounced. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 73 It is known that a Frenchman named Pierre LaPorte trapped for skins in the Rock River Valley before even Fort Armstrong was founded — before even there was any War of 1812. Another Frenchman, whose name is spelt variously as LaSallier, LeSaller and LeSellier, came into the upper Rock River Valley at a somewhat later date than LaPorte. He is said to have married a Pottawatomie woman, and their daughter became the wife of Joseph Ogee, of ferry fame. Not long after peace was declared concluding the War of 1812, a fur trader named Stephen Mack came to the Rock River region from Green Hay, the great fur market of the west, and located in the Grand Detour dis- trict. He married the daughter of a Pottawatomie chief, and is believed to have lived later in Winnebago County and to have passed his last years with his faithful Indian wife, in the upper Rock River Valley. After the Black Hawk War he founded Macktown on the site of the Rockton of today. During the earlier period of his residence in the valley, Mack was a contemporary of LaSallier, but the latter seemed never to have lived long in any one place; evidently LaSallier was a roving trader and a guide to white travelers and explorers of the early '20s. webb's trip down the valley When well along in years, LaSallier came in contact with several notable expeditions which traversed Rock River Valley. One which has been graphically recorded was that performed under the leadership of James Watson Webb, the twenty-year old adjutant at Fort Dearborn. In February, 1822, he bore a message to Fort Armstrong across northern Illinois, to be forwarded to Colonel Snelling in command of the garrison at St. Peters (Falls of St. Anthony), warning him of a contemplated Sioux massacre designed to wipe out a regiment of troops with the women and children who accompanied them. The journey was deemed so hazardous that Webb could induce only a sergeant at the post, a good woodsman, and an Indian of his own age, to make the start. From his graphic account of the trip, published twenty-four years after- ward, these extracts are taken: "The first two or three days were days of weariness to me and of frolic and fun to the Indian; because we necessarily traveled on foot, in consequence of the extreme severity of the weather, with our provisions on a pack-horse, and a horse to break the snow and make a trail in which to walk. The actual suffering consisted in riding our regular tour; but I, being all unused to travel through the snow on foot, for hour after hour consecutively, was weary and worn out when we came to bivouac at night; while the Indian was apparently as fresh as when we started, and cracked his jokes without mercy upon the fagged Che-mo-ca-mun or Long Knife, as they denominated all whites. I found, however, as I had been told by those who weve learned in such matters that endurance of the Indian bears no comparison with that of the white man. He will start off on a dog trot and accomplish his eighty or one hundred miles in an incredibly short space of time; but when he comes to day after day of regular work and endurance he soon begins to flag and finally becomes worn out; while each succeeding day inures the white man to his work, trains him for further exertion and the better tits him for the following day's labors. Thus it was with the Indian 74 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and myself, and on the evening of the fourth day I came to camp fresh as when we started, while the Indian came in weary and fatigued; and, of course, it was then my turn to boast of the endurance of the Che-mo-ca-mun and the effeminacy of the Nichenawby. "My instructions were to employ the Pottawatomie as a guide to the Rock River, where the country of the Winnebagoes commenced, and then take a Winnebago as a guide to Fort Armstrong — the leading object being so to ar- range our line of travel as to avoid the prairies upon which we would neces- sarily suffer from the cold. I had been apprised that I would find an old Canadian voyageur residing with his Indian family in a trading hut on Rock River, and it was to him my Pottawatomie was to guide me. ''Toward evening on the fifth day we reached our place of destination, and old La Sallier, recognizing us as whites and, of course, from the fort, intimated by signs, as he conducted us to the loft of his hut, that we were to preserve a profound silence. All who live in the Indian country learn to obey signs, and it is wonderful how soon we almost forget to ask questions. I knew that something was wrong, but it never entered my head to inquire what it was — Indian -like, quite willing to bide my time, even if the finger, closely pressed upon the lips of the old man had not apprised me that I should get no answer until it suited his discretion to make a communication. "It was nearly dark when we were consigned to the loft of the good old man, and for three long hours we saw him not. During this period there was abundant time for meditation upon our position ; when all at once the profound stillness, which reigned in and around the hut, was broken by the startling sound of a Winnebago war dance in our immediate vicinity ! This, as you may imagine, was no very agreeable sound for my sergeant and my- self, and it was perfectly horrifying to my Pottawatomie; all of which tribe, as well as their neighbors, were as much in awe of a Winnebago as is a flying fish of a dolphin. But all suspense has its end, and at length the war dance ceased — the music of which, at times, could only be likened to the shrieks of the damned and then, again, partook of the character of the recitative in an Italian opera, until at length it died away and all was silence. "Then came old La Sallier, whose head, whitened by the snows of eighty winters, as it showed itself through the trap in the floor, was a far more ac- ceptable sight than I could have anticipated it would be when I left the fort. Having been informed who we were and my desire to procure a Winnebago to guide me to Fort Armstrong, he inquired whether we had not heard the war dance and if we could conjecture its object! He then proceeded to state that two Winnebagoes, who had been tried and sentenced to be executed for the murder of a soldier at Fort Armstrong had escaped from the jail at Kas- kaskia and arrived on the river a few days previous; that in consequence the whole nation was in a state of extraordinary excitement, and that the war- dance to which we had listened was preparatory to the starting of a war party for Fort Armstrong to attack it, or to destroy such of the garrison as they could meet beyond its palisades, and that, of course, our only safety was in making an early start homeward. I inquired whether I could not avoid the Indians by crossing the Great Prairie and thus striking the Mississippi above the fort. He answered that by such a route I would certainlv avoid the Indians TIIK ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 75 until I reached the vicinity of the Mississippi; hut that we would as certainly perisli with the cold, as there was no wood to furnish a fire at night. Tlio mercury in the thermometer, as I well know, had stood at five degrees helow zero when I left the garrison, and it had certainly heen growing eolder each day; and therefore 1 apparently acquiesced in his advice, and requesting to be called some three hours before daylight, winch would give us a fair start of any pursuing party, and bade him good night. * * * "Again we were left to ourselves and then doubtless I wished myself safe in garrison, lint to return, and that too from fear and the object of my journey unaccomplished, was inevitable disgrace. But what was still more important was the consequence to others of my return. I could not but think there was an understanding between the Winnebago and the Sioux, and if there had lingered in my mind a doubt of the story of the Pottawatomie chief, that doubt was now at an end and, of course, a sense of duty to a whole regi- ment of officers and men, their wives and children, was as imperative in re- quiring my advance as was the fear of disgrace in preventing my return. With two such motives for a right decision, there could be no doubt as to my course. It required more courage to retreat than to advance, and I determined upon the latter. "Some hours before the dawn of day we started, apparently for garrison; but once out of sight of old La Sallier we knocked the shoes off our horses to avoid being tracked by them in crossing the river, threw away our caps, tore up a blanket to make the hood worn by Indians in extremely cold weather, and took a course by the stars directly west. I should have mentioned that my Indian, now having become valueless, I urged his return to his own tribe. But neither persuasion nor threats could induce him to go. In every bush he imagined he saw a AVinnebago, and he dared not return alone. * * * "The second day after leaving Rock River was the coldest I ever experienced. The ground was covered with about eight inches of snow, and no one who has not experienced it can well imagine with what piercing effect the wind passes over those boundless fields of snow unbroken by a single tree. On that day, at Fort Armstrong, sixty miles south of us and sheltered by woods, I afterward ascertained the mercury never rose above fourteen degrees below zero. How cold it was where we were, it is impossible to conjecture; but I know that when my Indian failed in strength and absolutely refused to take his turn in riding the horse to break a trail through the snow, I rode his tour of ten minutes in addition to my own, and when I got down discovered that my feet, face, hands and knees were frozen! 'To encamp without wood was an impossibility. The country is a high, rolling prairie and from a naked hill, about five o'clock in the afternoon, I dis- covered an island of woods lying southwest of us and distant some ten miles. When the Indian saw the distance yet to travel, the hope with which I had all along cheered him failed, and he announced his utter inability to proceed. To place him on our horse was certain death to him; to remain with him in the prairie, without wood and consequently without fire, was as certain death to all ; yet he begged most piteously that we would not abandon him. He was, but a boy, although even at that age, he might meet death at the stake with all an Indian's coolness, he could not make up his mind to a death from 76 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY fatigue and cold. I reasoned with him upon the folly of all perishing in an idle attempt to save one, pointed out the wood to him and promised him to build a large fire to guide him to us as soon as we reached it and, with a heavy heart, took leave of him with but little expectation of seeing him again. "Night set in shortly after we separated and not a solitary star was vis- ible; but our course to the wood lying southwest and the wind blowing cut- tingly severe from the northwest, there was but little difficulty in keeping our way. In about an hour the wind lulled and then we felt the awkwardness of our position. On a trackless prairie covered with snow, without trail, moon, star or wood — what evidence did we possess that we were going in the direction we desired? The reflection was not a comfortable one, but we knew the worst of our position. We could wander at random all night on the prairie and find our way to shelter in the morning 1 ; but not so our poor Indian ; and with the lulling of the wind the last gleam of hope for him was necessarily abandoned. "This calm may have continued nearly two hours, when again the wind rose; but instead of blowing upon our right cheeks it struck us upon the left. The weather had not moderated, we had too much reason to believe, and conse- quently we came to a halt, lighted our punk, held it to my pocket compass — and, behold, we were traveling northeast, or directly from instead of to our haven of rest. This created no surprise, though, of course, we were not par- ticularly pleased to discover that we had lost so much time on such a night in the wilderness of a prairie with which we were surrounded; but life in the wilderness is a life of action. We promptly resumed our march in the proper direction, with the wind a certain guide if it did not again lull. And now comes the wonder. In less than an hour we overtook our Indian traveling leisurely in the same direction as ourselves. Never before nor since have I been so surprised. My salutation was 'Where are you going?' He answered 'To the woods.' 'And how do you know that you are going to the woods?' He could not tell how, or why; he knew he was right, was certain, had not a doubt. I then undertook to question him more closely, but it was of no avail. He knew not why it was, but he was as certain that he was traveling in the right direc- tion as if it had been broad daylight and the wood directly in view. He had traveled slowly, was somewhat refreshed, and we all traveled leisurely until about ten o'clock at night, when we reached our anxiously-sought wood, built a fire, scraped away the snow for a couch and slept, as only travelers under such circumstances can sleep." Then follows a long consideration by the author on the wonderful or in- stinctive sense of direction possessed by the Indian and other primitive people. On the part of the red man he notes the anatomical fact that more generous provision is made in their skulls for the mechanical exercise of such senses as smell, sight and sound than in those of the white race; and that of direction is largely based on these senses. "In regard to the result of my expedition," Webb concludes, "I ought to add that most providentially we reached Fort Armstrong without meeting with an Indian, or approaching sufficiently near to one to be recognized as whites, although we passed for miles (unconsciously) through woods filled with them, and were informed on reaching the fort that for some weeks the mainland had not been visited unless accompanied by a strong guard. My dispatches were forwarded to the Palls of St. Anthony by soldiers THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 77 who traveled all the way on the frozen Mississippi and fortunately, when they were received, a number of Sioux chiefs were about the garrison. They were immediately placed in the guardhouse, and others sent for and served in like manner. None of them was released until the opening of spring and satisfactory proofs, that the proposed rising had been finally abandoned as equally dan- gerous and hopeless." Webb returned safely to Fort Dearborn, although it was reported in one of the post bulletins that he and his companions had been killed by the Indians. In 1827 he resigned his commission as adjutant, moved to New York and, although then but twenty-five years of age, became editor of the Morning Courier. He proved to be a very enterprising news-gatherer as well as aggres- sive editor, was sentenced for duelling and finally met his quietus through the forceful and caustic thrusts of Horace Greeley whom he had attacked editorially. THE MAJOR LONG EXPEDITION The year following the Webb trip to Fort Armstrong, the old-time trapper and guide, LaSallier, conducted the expedition organized by Major S. H. Long to explore the headwaters of the St. Peter's River from Chicago to his home neighborhood near the mouth of the Pecatonica River, the chief western branch of the Rock, and accompanied it to Prairie du Chien, or Fort Crawford. From a narrative of the expedition, compiled mainly from the notes of Major Long, it is learned that when the decision was made at Chicago to select the route by way of Galena and Fort Crawford rather than by way of Fort Armstrong, no person could be found as a guide until ''an old French engage of the name Le Seller" undertook the office. "This man," continues the narrative, "who had lived for upwards of thirty years with the Indians, had taken a wife among the Winnebagoes and settled on the headwaters of Rock River; knowing that country as far as that stream, he presumed that he could find his way thence to Fort Crawford." LaSallier guided the party safely until the Pecatonica River had been reached, a few miles above its junction with the Rock River. At this point it became evident that he had reached the limit of his knowledge of the country. Accordingly he was sent ahead to secure an Indian guide to lead the party to Prairie du Chien. Although the Indian village to which he went was mostly composed of Winnebago, its chief was a Sauk and his elder brother, Waneba, agreed to act as guide for the balance of the journey. During the trip from the Indian village in what is now Winnebago County to Fort Crawford, LaSal- lier is said to have conveyed much valuable information to Major Long and other white members of the expedition. He is credited with translating certain words uttered by a Winnebago into the Sauk language; then into French and then into English, in order to test the accuracy of some of the vocabulary which Major Long had written during a former trip. He also gave other infor- mation, especially about the Sauk, useful to the student of ethnology, and inter- preted a discourse made by Waneba, the guide, on the soul and the spirit. This is the last picture which is given in the printed page of LaSallier, one of the notable characters of the upper Rock River Valley. 78 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY KEOKUK AND THE SAUK AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN It is a matter of record that Black Hawk and his people received annuities from the United States Government, for a number of years, as well as various favors from the British. British flags and medals were worn by his followers to the exclusion of like tokens offered by the United States. In May, 1823, he led the party which nearly annihilated the Iowas, and joined with the Winnebago in all their forays. Finally on August 19, 1825, less than a decade after the conference at the Portage des Sioux, the Sioux, Chippewa, Sauk and Poxes, Menominee, Iowas, Winnebago, Ottawa and Pottawatomi, were called to Prairie du Chien by the United States Government not for the cession of any lands or to secure any direct American benefit, but to induce the Indians to cease fighting among themselves. Black Hawk did not attend. Keokuk was there, as the leader of his American peace party, as was Henry School- craft, the educated and talented New Yorker, who was then Indian agent at Sault Ste. Marie and had married the educated granddaughter of an Indian chief. The young man who was to become so famous as an authority on Indian history and lore came in his canoe from the far northern country to assist in the negotiations at Prairie du Chien and long afterward wrote an account of the treaty of 1825 in his book "Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes of the Northwestern Frontier." The Government had appointed William Clark and Lewis Cass commissioners to treat with the assembled tribal representatives. Schoolcraft describes his canoe trip to Prairie du Chien and some of the Indian chiefs assembled in the council of peace, continuing: "But no tribes attracted as intense a degree of interest as the Iowa and the Sacs and Foxes — tribes of radically diverse languages, yet united in a league against the Sioux. These tribes were encamped on the island or opposite coast. They came to the treaty ground armed and dressed as a war party. They were all armed with spears, clubs, guns and knives. Many of the warriors had a long tuft of red horse hair tied at their elbows and wore a necklace of grizzly bears' claws. Their head dress consisted of red dyed horse hair tied in such manner to the scalplock as to present the shape of the decoration of a Roman helmet. The rest of the head was completely shaved and painted. A long iron-shod lance was carried in the hand. A species of baldric supported part of their arms. The azian, moccasin and leggings constituted part of their dress. They were indeed nearly nude and painted. Often the print of a hand in white clay marked the back or shoulders. They bore flags of feathers. They beat drums. They uttered yells at definite points. They landed in compact ranks. They looked the very spirit of defiance. Their leader stood as a prince, majestic and frowning. The wild native pride of man in the savage state, flushed by suc- cess in war and confident in the strength of his arm, was never so fully depicted to my eyes. And the forest tribes of the continent may be challenged to have ever presented a spectacle of bold daring and martial progress equal to their landing. "Their martial bearing and their high tone and whole behavior during their stay, in and out of the council, was impressive, and demonstrated in an eminent degree to what a high pitch of physical and moral courage, bravery and success in war may lead a savage people. Keokuk, who led them, stood THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 79 with his war Lance, high crest of feathers and daring eye, like another Corio- lanus, and when he spoke in council and at the same time shook his lance at his enemies, the Sioux, it was evident that he wanted but an opportunity to make their blood flow like water. Wapelo and other chiefs backed him, and the whole array, with their shaved heads and high crests of red horse hair, told the spectator plainly that each of these men held his life in his hand and was ready to spring to the work of slaughter at the cry of their chief. * * * "When nearly a month had been consumed in these negotiations, a treaty of limits was signed that will long be remembered in the Indian reminiscences. * * It was a pleasing sight to see the explorer of the Columbia in 1806 (Clark) and the writer of the proclamation of the army which invaded Canada in 1812 (Cass) uniting in a task boding so much good to the tribes whose passions and trespasses on each other's lands kept them perpetually at war. "At the close of the treaty an experiment was made on the moral sense of the Indians with regard to intoxicating liquors which was evidently of too refined a character for their just appreciation. It had been said by the tribes that the true reason for the commissioners of the United States speaking against the use of ardent spirits by the Indians, and refusing to give them, was not a sense of its bad effects so much as the fear of the expense. To show them that the Government was above such a petty principle, the commissioners had a long row of camp kettles holding several gallons each placed on the grass, from one end of the council house to the other, and then, after some suitable remarks, each kettle was spilled out in their presence. The thing was evidently ill relished by the Indians. They loved the whiskey better than the joke." The Winnebago War of 1827 had its origin in the attack of a body of Winnebago upon a band of Chippewa, at Fort Snelling, and the surrender and execution of the four leaders who were chiefly responsible for the outrage. This was followed by acts of reprisal and murder on the part of the Winne- bago or Sioux, by clashings between the lead miners and the Indians as to land titles, by an aggravating attack upon a supply boat from Fort Snelling made by Sauk and Winnebago bands near the mouth of the Bad Axe and (alleged by some authorities) the mistreatment of some drunken squaws by equally drunken boatmen. All these acts and clashings between the warring trihes and the government troops under General Henry Atkinson in the early sunimer of 1827 resulted in a number of deaths, and the surrender and imprison- ment of Red Bird, the great war chief of the Winnebago. Civil trials of those charged with murder and the attack on the supply boat, from which resulted half a dozen fatalities among the crew, brought the conviction of a number of Indians. All efforts to directly connect either Red Bird or Black Hawk with such bloodshed were futile. The confinement of Red Bird, however, was soon followed by his death (February 16, 1828). KEOKUK AGAIN AMERICA'S GOOD INDIAN GENIUS In the late summer of 1829, the government concluded treaties with the Pottawatomi, Chippewa, Ottawa and YVinnebapo, by which it was thought peace- ful possession would be assured of the country between the Rock River Valley 80 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and southern Lake Michigan ; and, in fact, after these treaties there were never any clashes with these tribes over the ownership of their lands. These treaties were held at Prairie du Chien. That made with the Pottawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa ceded to the United States the territory between Rock River and the Mississippi and between Rock River and Lake Michigan, west and south of the cession of 1816. Caleb Atwater, one of the government com- missioners who subscribed to the treaty, thus comments on the part taken by Keokuk in making the negotiations a success: "The Winnebagoes appeared in council and delivered many speeches to us. They demanded the $20,000 worth of goods. 'Wipe out your debt' was their reply 'before you run in debt again to us.' "Our goods, owing to the low stage of water had not arrived yet, and the Indians feared we did not intend to fulfill Governor Cass' agreement of the year before. When our goods did arrive and they saw them, they then changed their tone a little ; but in the meantime great uneasiness existed. * * * We were told by the Winnebagoes that they 'would use a little switch upon us.' In plain English, they would assassinate the whole of us out of the fort. Two hundred warriors, under Keokuk and Morgan, of Sauk and Foxes, arrived and began their war dance for the United States, and they brought word that thirty steamboats, with cannon and United States troops, and 400 war- riors of their own, were near at hand. The Winnebagoes were silenced by this intelligence and by demonstrations not understood by them. "It was a season of great joy with me, who placed more reliance on Keokuk and his friendly warriors than all our other forces. Good as our officers were, our soldiers of the army were too dissipated and worthless to be relied upon one moment. Taking Keokuk aside and alone, I told him in plain English all I wanted of him, and what I would do for him, and what I expected from him and his good offices. He replied in good English : ' I understand you, sir, perfectly, and it shall all be done.' It was all done faithfully and turned the tide in our favor." On the 1st of August, 1829, the treaty was concluded with the Winnebago by which the tribe ceded 8,000,000 acres of land, in three tracts, extending from the upper end of Rock Island to the mouth of the Wisconsin. The United States now owned the entire country east of the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to the mouth of the Wisconsin River, but the supreme test of that ownership was to come in the clash of arms between the government, the citizen soldiery and the implacable Black Hawk in the Rock River Valley of Illinois and on the Mississippi bluffs of southwestern Wisconsin. CHAPTER IV BLACK HAWK'S FLITTING SHADOWS WHEN THE WHITES CAME TO SAUKENUK — APPEALS TO GOVERNOR REYNOLDS — CALLS TO VOLUNTEERS AND REGULARS — STATE MILITIA PROMPTLY RESPOND DIFFICUL- TIES IN ORGANIZATION OF VOLUNTEER ARMY ADVANCE AGAINST BLACK HAWK'S TOWN — FOUND DESERTED BURNED BY VOLUNTEERS THE WARRIOR 'S DEFENSE — UK PROCLAIMS POLICY OF NON-RESISTANCE CONFERENCES WITH THE PROPHET — GENERAL GAINES CALLS A COUNCIL AT ROCK ISLAND BLACK HAWK AT FIRST DEFIANT — FINALLY SIGNS TREATY OF JUNE 30, 1831 AGREES NEVER TO RECROSS THE MISSISSIPPI — GENERAL GAINES AND GOVERNOR REYNOLDS RELIEVE DISTRESS OF BLACK HAWK 's BAND — ARMY OF REGULARS AND VOLUNTEERS DISPERSES— BLOODY REPRISALS BETWEEN SAUK AND FOXES, SIOUX AND MENOMINEE — BLACK HAWK AND PROPHET FAIL TO WEAN SHABBONA FROM THE UNITED STATES — LAST AT- TEMPT to break keokuk's power — black hawk recrosses the Mississippi with his people encamps below the prophet's village} — expresses from general atkinson sent back regulars and volunteers again organized to pursue black hawk — collapse of the campaign colonel henry gratiot's narrow escape — reorganization of the pursuit expedition under general atkinson and governor reynolds colonel zachary taylor in active command of regulars general samuel whiteside brigadier gen- eral of vom/nteers state troops leave heavy baggage behind set out to overtake black hawk by forced marches first definite news as to black hawk's location obtained at dixon s ferry. Acting upon the honest belief that the government title to the fertile lands at the mouth of the Rock River was beyond lawful dispute, and would not be seriously contested even by Black Hawk, in 1828 President Adams, by proclamation, opened them to settlement. The survey included the Sauk vil- lage, which by May of that year had been abandoned by all except Quashquame and the band led by Black Hawk. Keokuk, chief of the Sauk, and Wapello, tlic head chief of the Foxes, and other acknowledged leaders of their tribes, had been followed by the bulk of the allied nations of the Rock River to lands provided for them west of the Mississippi. The situation of affairs in May, 1829, when white settlers commenced to occupy the land included in the site of Saukenuk, the Indian village still held by Black Hawk and Quashquame on the north bank of the Rock River, is thus described by Major Thomas Forsythe, Indian agent at Rock Island, to Governor Clark, his superior: "Rocky Island, 17th May, 1829 "Sir: — Some time early in the spring a number of settlers came to the Sac village on Rock River and enclosed nearly all the Sac Indians' corn fields. 81 82 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY The Indians, on their arrival, were surprised at this, as also the destruction committed by the settlers by tearing down many of their lodges. The settlers who reside at the Sac village have called on me frequently, wishing me to drive the Indians away ; that they must go, ought to go, pointing out the neces- sity of sending them away, etc., etc. "I yesterday had a meeting with a number of Indians and had a very long talk with them on the subject of all the Indians moving on to their own lands. Quashquame denying that he ever sold any land above Rock River, etc. The Black Hawk also saying that the white people were in the habit of saying one thing to the Indians and putting another on paper; and both those Indians made use of every argument they were masters of, to convince me that they had never sold the land above Rock River. "I acquainted all the Indians with the provisions of the treaty of 1804, where Quashquame 's name is, as one of the chiefs who sold the land in question (the other chiefs being dead). I also reminded the Black Hawk of the treaty of 1816, when the commissioners refused to smoke with him and the other Sac chiefs (who accompanied him down to St. Louis) to make peace until they signed the treaty. "The Black Hawk denied that any mention was made to him about land in making the treaty of 1816; but that the commissioners must have inserted in the treaty what was not expressly explained to him and friends. ' ' The Indians and myself had a great deal of talk at this meeting, the most of which was quite unnecessary, at the winding up of which I told the Indians I would not listen to any complaints that might come in the future from any Indians who remained at Rocky River. "The chief Keokuk inquired of me in private if he and some of his friends could remain at Rocky River to raise the corn they had planted, saying at the same time that most of the principal chiefs and braves had gone to reside at a place a few miles within the mouth of Ioway River, and that more than one-half of those now at Rocky River would also go shortly to the same place. I told Keokuk that he had heard what I had said to the Indians in council, and that it was out of my power to give any Indians such permission as he had asked. "It is my opinion that but few Indians will remain at Rocky River this summer, but yet I am fearful that some difficulties will take place among them and the settlers during the ensuing summer. All the Fox Indians formerly residing in this vicinity have gone and made a new village at the Grand Muscatin." APPEALS TO GOVERNOR REYNOLDS Depredations on the growing and mature crops of the white settlers who had located in the Rock Island region continued through the spring and sum- mer of 1830, and in the autumn Black Hawk and his band departed on their winter's hunt. In the following spring the Indians returned, found Black Eawk's lodge occupied, with the rest of the village, and the whites prepared to resist an ejectment from their lands. From this time, Black Hawk and his followers became continually more aggressive and threatening. The settlers (Through the courtesy of the Rock Island Arsenal) FOET ARMSTRONG AS BUILT IN 1816 Prom photograph of an old drawing. Refuge of whites from enemy Indians — Center of important Treaties — Meeting place of famous American Statesmen, Military Leaders ami Indian Chiefs — Once residence of famous Dred Scott slave — Evacuated as military post in 18.'56. Last vestige of fort removed in 1863. —a (Through the oourtesj of the Boca [dead A BITE OF OLD FORT A h'MSTWONC LOOKING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI Vol. I— « 84 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY perceived that they had to contend with a serious uprising against their oc- cupancy of the soil and commenced to appeal to Governor John Reynolds for protection. Their first formal petition to the chief executive was dated April 30, 1831. It read: "We, the undersigned, being citizens of Rock River and its vicinity, beg leave to state to your honor the grievances which we labor under, and pray your protection against the Sac and Pox tribe of Indians, who have again taken possession of our lands near the mouth of Rock River and vicinity. They have, and now are burning our fences, destroying our crops of growing wheat by turning in all their horses. They also threaten our lives if we attempt to plant corn, and say they will cut it up ; that we have stolen their lands from them, and they are determined to exterminate us provided we don't leave the country. Your honor is, no doubt, aware of the outrages that were committed by said Indians heretofore. Particularly last fall they almost destroyed all our crops and made several attempts on the owners' lives when they attempted to prevent their depredations, and actually wounded one man by stabbing him in several places. This spring they act in a much more outrageous and menacing manner, so that we consider ourselves compelled to beg protection of you, which the agent and garrison on Rock Island refuse to give, inasmuch as they say they have no orders from government; therefore, should we not receive adequate aid from your honor, we shall be compelled to abandon our settlement and the lands which we have purchased from govern- ment, Therefore we have no doubt your honor will better anticipate our con- dition than it is represented, and grant us immediate relief in the manner that to you may seem most likely to produce the desired effect. The number of Indians now among us is about six or seven hundred. They say there are more coming, and that the Pottawatomies and some of the Winnebagoes will help them in case of an irruption with the whites. The warriors now here are the Black Hawk's party, with other chiefs, the names of whom we are not acquainted." Virtually the same petition was carried to the much-harassed governor about two weeks later, and several depositions, setting forth the distressing condition of affairs in the region of the lower Rock River Valley, were presented to him at the gubernatorial residence in Belleville. Such pleas for protection placed Governor Reynolds in a perplexing position, which he explains in "My Own Times" as follows: "If I did not act and the inhabitants were murdered after being informed of their situation, I would be condemned 'from Dan to Bersheba'; and if I levied war by raising troops, when there was no necessity for it, I would also be responsible. I had just been elected governor and my friends had pledged myself and themselves that I would act rightly and honor- ably in all my official duties. This made me feel, if possible, more responsibility to my friends than to myself. I passed a few weeks of intense feeling in rela- tion to my duty. "Having before me a vast amount of information, all tending to establish the following facts: That about three hundred warriors, headed by a hostile war chief, Black Hawk, were in possession, with the citizens, of the old Sac village near Rock Island ; that the Indians were determined to retain possession of the country by force ; and that they had already done mischief to the citizens. I knew, also, that the citizens had applied to the Indian agents and the military THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 85 officers of the United States, and had obtained no relief. I was well aware that in this kind of war there was but. one step between the sublime and the ridiculous, and that I was incurring a great responsibility. "On mature reflection, I considered it my duty to call on the volunteers to move the Indians to the west side of the Mississippi, according to the treaty made by the general government with them. Accordingly, on the 26th of May, 1831, without any requisition from the United States I made a call on the militia for seven hundred mounted men." STATE MILITIA PROMPTLY RESPOND Governor Reynolds communicated the fact of his call to General Clark, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on the same day it was made. He, in turn, forwarded it to General Edmund P. Gaines, commander of the Western De- partment, U. S. A. General Gaines, within three days, wrote from the head- quarters of his department at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, that he had ordered to the hostile Sauk territory six companies of regulars. If necessary, four companies could be added. "With this force," adds the general with due military dignity, "I am satisfied that I shall be able to repel the invasion and give security to the frontier inhabitants of the State. But should the hostile band be sustained by the residue of the Sac, Fox and other Indians to an extent requiring an augmentation of my force, I will, in that event, communicate with Your Excellency by express, and avail myself of the cooperation which you propose. But under existing circumstances, and the present aspect of our Indian relations on the Rock Island section of the frontier, I do not deem it accessary or proper to require militia, or any other description of force, other than that of the regular army at this place and Prairie du Chien. " The department commander quickly set out for Fort Armstrong to in- vestigate the situation at Rock Island and found it so serious that he com- municated with Governor Reynolds on June 5th, accepting the battalion of mounted men which had been offered as a cooperating force; adding that the volunteers would find at Fort Armstrong "a supply of rations for the men, with corn for their horses, together with a supply of powder and lead." Gen- eral Gaines' change in attitude toward the proffered services of the state troops was caused by the fact that, while disavowing any hostility, he had found Black Hawk's band standing stubbornly by their expressed determination to remain in their village. The commander also learned that the Rock River Sauk had made overtures to the Prophet's band of Winnebago, with some Pottawatomi and Kickapoo, to join them. He concluded: "I have deemed it expedient under all the circumstances of the case to invite the frontier inhabitants to bring their families to this post until the difference is over." Commenting on the significance of this letter, Governor Reynolds admits : "I was very much rejoiced on receiving this letter, as it put my whole pro- ceeding on a legal and constitutional footing, and the responsibility of the war removed from me to the United States." The mounted militia responded to Governor Reynolds' call, supported by the United States military department through General Gaines, with such promptness and enthusiasm that by the 10th of June fifteen hundred of these 86 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY backwoods fighters, mainly from the northern and central counties, had as- sembled at Beardstown "ready for business." Again the Governor remarks: "I believe it was the expeditious and efficient movement of the mounted volun- teers that quieted the Indian disturbances near Rock Island. Black Hawk and his band were not in fear of the regular soldiers who could not move with celerity so as to strike terror into the hearts of the Indians. Moreover, the Indians dreaded the backwoods white men. They knew the volunteers were their natural enemies and would destroy them on all occasions. This class of troop was raised and marched to Rock Island with extraordinary celerity and in such an imposing force that it struck terror into the hearts of the Indians. "I knew from the time I made the first call on the militia, and time has since confirmed it, that many of the Indians for hundreds of miles around the frontiers were hostile to the United States and had promised Black Hawk succor, and would have joined him had not the extraordinarily quick and strong movement of the Illinois volunteers prevented it. It is probable that the deter- mined and hasty volunteering of the Illinois troops saved the Government from a destructive Indian war all around the northwest frontiers." DIFFICULTIES IN ORGANIZING VOLUNTEER ARMY Governor Reynolds notes the difficulties which he had to encounter in the organization of the volunteer army. The most independent, energetic and able citizens had volunteered their services, many of them, unaccustomed to military subordination, applying for office. "Many of these individuals had standing," he added, "and their wishes were not to be disregarded. On the whole the proper organization of a volunteer army is a matter that requires much serious attention and a knowledge of human nature. A volunteer army, without the proper organization and properly officered, will turn out a mob and a dis- grace to themselves and country. "I appointed the Hon. Joseph Duncan, who was then a member of con- gress, brigadier general, to take immediate command of the brigade, and Samuel Whiteside, a major, to take command of a spy battalion. These officers were important to the success of the campaign and I took the responsibility to appoint them. The other officers except the staff officers I ordered the volun- teers to elect." Joseph Duncan had already earned standing in the War of 1812 and had afterward served as major general of the state militia. Politically, he repre- sented a central district of the state centering at Jacksonville, and after the coming war with Black Hawk had been concluded was to be called to the gubernatorial chair. Samuel Whiteside was a member of the Monroe County family of famous Indian fighters. Governor Reynolds appointed as his aides Colonel James D. Henry and Colonel Milton K. Alexander. Colonel Henry was from the Springfield dis- trict, had served with credit in the Winnebago War and was a victim of the Black Hawk War, as he died soon after its conclusion from disease contracted from exposure during the campaign. Colonel Alexander was from Edgar County, eastern Illinois, had had his first active military experience in the War of 1812 and obtained his title as colonel of the state militia. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 87 The principal officers identified with the volunteer army were not only in high standing with the state militia, but had had actual experience as cam- paigners. Politically, they represented widely separated districts in the state, and obviously the selections were made with forethought from the viewpoint of availability and civic consideration. The entire volunteer force was divided into two regiments, an odd battalion and ;i spy battalion. The First Regiment was commanded by Colonel Henry, the Second, by Colonel Daniel Lieb, the odd battalion by Major Nathaniel Buckmaster and the spy battalion by Major Whiteside. The entire brigade was in command of Major General Duncan. This was the largest military force of Illinoians which had ever been assembled in the state, and made an imposing appearance as it traversed the then unbroken wilderness of prairie. In the spy battalion of Major Samuel Whiteside was a young lawyer named Thomas Ford. He represented the contingent from Monroe County, the family home of the Whitesides. Young Ford was the half-brother of George Forquer, then Attorney General of the State and one of its leading public men. This same spy who joined Major Whiteside's battalion was in after years to be a prominent judge and governor of the state; and, what is more to the point of the present writing, was to write a history of Illinois after his public service was a chapter of the past. The Ford narrative which pictures the advance of the American forces upon what had then become known as Black Hawk's Town, with the burning of the ancient Indian settlement, is extracted from his history: "The army pro- ceeded in four days to the Mississippi at a place now called Rockport, about eight miles below the mouth of Rock River, where it met General Gaines in a steamboat with a supply of provisions. Here it encamped for one night and here the two generals concerted a plan of operations. General Gaines had been in the vicinity of the Indian town for about a month, during which time it might be supposed that he had made himself thoroughly acquainted with the localities and topography of the country. The next morning the volunteers inarched forward, with an old regular soldier for a guide. The steamboat with General Gaines ascended the river. A battle was expected to be fought that day on Yandruff's Island opposite the Indian town. "The plan was for the volunteers to cross the slough on to this island, give battle to the enemy if found there, and then to ford the river into the town, where they were to be met by the regular force coming down from the fort. The island was covered with bushes and vines, so as to be impenetrable to the sight at a distance of twenty feet. General Gaines ran his steamboat np to the point of the island, and fired several rounds of grape and canister shot into it to test the presence of an enemy. The spy battalion formed in line of battle and swept the island; but it was soon ascertained that the ground rose so high within a short distance of the bank that General Gaines' shot could not have taken effect one hundred yards from the shore. The main body of the volunteers, in three columns, came following the spies; but before they had gone to the northern side of the island, they were so jammed up and mixed together, officers and men, that no man knew his own company or regiment, or scarcely himself. "General Gaines had ordered the artillery of the regular army to be sta- 88 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY tioned on a high bluff which looked down upon the contemplated battlefield, a half mile distant, whence, in case of battle with the Indians in the tangled thickets of the island, their shot were likely to kill more of their friends than their enemies. It would have been impossible for the artillerists to distin- guish one from the other. And when the army arrived at the main river, they found it a bold, deep stream, not fordable for a half mile or more above by horses, and no means of transportation was then ready to ferry them over. Here they were in sight of the Indian town, with a narrow but deep river running between, and here the principal part of them remained until scows could be brought to ferry them across it. When the volunteers reached the town they found no enemy there. The Indians had quietly departed the same morning in their canoes for the western side of the Mississippi. "Whilst in camp twelve miles below, the evening before, a canoe load of Indians came down with a white flag to tell the General that they were peace- able Indians, that they expected a great battle to come off next day, that they desired to remain neutral, and wanted to retire with their families to some place of safety and they asked to know where that was to be. General Gaines answered them very abruptly, and told them to be off and go to the other side of the Mississippi. That night they returned to their town, and the next morn- ing early the whole band of hostile Indians recrossed the river and thus entitled themselves to protection. * * * ADVANCE AGAINST BLACK HAWK'S TOWN "The enemy having escaped, the volunteers were determined to be avenged upon something. The rain descended in torrents and the Indian wigwams would have furnished a comfortable shelter; but notwithstanding the rain the whole town was soon wrapped in flames. And thus perished an ancient village which had once been the delightful home of six or seven thousand Indians; where generation after generation had been born, had died and been buried; where the old men had taught wisdom to the young; whence the Indian youth had often gone out in parties to hunt or to war, and returned in triumph to dance around the spoils of the forest, or the scalps of their enemies ; and where the dark-eyed Indian maidens, by their presence and charms, had made it a scene of enchantment to many an admiring warrior." The departure of Black Hawk and his band for the other side of the Mis- sissippi without offering united physical resistance is in conformity with the explanation of his policy as given in his "autobiography." The traders, the Indian agents, Keokuk and even the British authorities at Maiden, Canada, advised him to move across the Mississippi ; his British advisers assuring him that if he had not ceded the lands upon which the village stood and resided there peaceably he would not be molested. Standing upon the assurance of Qnashquame, he not only insisted that his village had never been sold but propounded the following philosophy which might warm the kindred soul of Henry George: "My reason teaches me that land cannot be sold. The Great Spirit gave it to his children to live upon and cultivate as far as is necessary for their subsistence; and so long as they occupy and cultivate they have the right to the soil — but if they voluntarily leave it, then any other people have THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 89 a right to settle upon it, Nothing can be sold but such things as can be car- ried away." the warrior's defense If Black Hawk's assertions were true — that he had never knowingly been a party to the cession of the village site to the government — the assurance of his British supporters that he and his band could not be molested might have seemed much like the assurance of the lawyer to his client in jail, viz., that the defendant could not be imprisoned. Black Hawk represented thus: "In consequence of the improvements of the intruders on our fields, we found considerable difficulty to get ground to plant a little corn. Some of the whites permitted us to plant small patches in the fields they had fenced, keeping all the best ground for themselves. Our women had great difficulty in climbing their fences (being unaccustomed to the kind) and were ill-treated if they left a rail down. ' ' One of my old friends thought he was safe. His corn field was on a small island of the Rock River. He planted his corn; it came up well — but the white man saw it! — he wanted the island, took his teams over, ploughed up the corn and replanted it for himself. The old man shed tears; not for him- self but the distress his family would be in if they raised no corn. "The white people brought whiskey into our village, made our people drunk and cheat I'd them out of their horses, guns and traps. This fraudulent system was carried to such an extent that I apprehended serious difficulties might take place unless a stop was put to it. Consequently, I visited all the whites and begged them not to sell whiskey to my people. One of them continued the practice openly. I took a party of my young men, went to his house, took out his barrel, broke in the head and poured out the whiskey. I did this for fear some of the whites might be killed by my people when drunk. "Our people were treated badly by the whites on many occasions. At one time a white man beat one of our Avomen cruelly for pulling a few suckers out of his field to suck when hungry. At another time one of our young men was beaten with clubs by two white men for opening a fence which crossed our road to take his horse through. His shoulder blade was broken and his body badly bruised, from which he soon after died. "Bad and cruel as our people were treated by the whites, not one of them was hurt or molested by any of my band. I hope this will prove that we are a peaceable people — having permitted ten men to take possession of our corn- fields; prevented us from planting corn; burn our lodges; ill-treat our women, and heat to death our men without offering resistance to their barbarous cruel- tics. This is a lesson worthy for the white man to learn; to use forbearance when injured. "We acquainted our agent daily with our situation and, through him, the great chief at St. Louis (General Clark), and hoped that something would be done for us. The whites were complaining at the same time that we were intruding on their rights. They made themselves out the injured party and we. the intruders, and called loudly to the great war chief to protect their property. 90 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY "How smooth must be the language of the whites, when they can make right look like wrong and wrong like right!" It is little wonder that Black Hawk was wrenched with conflicting emo- tions, or in his own words: "I fasted and called upon the Great Spirit to direct my steps to the right path. I was in great sorrow — because all the whites with whom I was acquainted and had been on terms of friendship, advised me so contrary to my wishes that I began to doubt whether I had a friend among them. Keokuk, who has a smooth tongue and is a great speaker, was busy in persuading my band that I was wrong, and thereby making many of them dissatisfied with me. I had one consolation — for all the women were on my side, on account of their corn-fields." After visiting the Indian agent at Rock Island, Thomas Forsythe, and the great trader, Colonel George Daven- port, Black Hawk was induced to make an offer of removal to the west side of the Mississippi, provided the "great chief at St. Louis" would give him $6,000 for the purchase of provisions and other articles to relieve the neces- sities of his band. After a few days, this offer was peremptorily refused, accompanied by renewed threats of ejectment. "I was not much displeased with the answer brought by the war chief," says Black Hawk, "because I would rather have laid my bones with my fore- fathers than remove for any consideration. Yet if a friendly offer had been made, as I expected, I would, for the sake of my women and children, have removed peaceably. PROCLAIMS POLICY OP NON-RESISTANCE ' ' I now resolved to remain in my village and make no resistance, if the military came, but submit to my fate. I impressed the importance of this course on all my band and directed them, in case the military came, not to raise an arm against them." CONFERENCES WITH THE PROPHET Black Hawk's final decision to remain in his village was the result of his conferences with Wabokiesshiek, White Cloud, the Winnebago Prophet. White Cloud is described as a stout, fine-looking Indian, about forty years of age. A full and flowing suit of hair graced his head, which was surmounted by a fantastic white head-dress several inches in height, resembling a turban and emblematic of his office. The Prophet claimed that one of his parents was a Sauk, the other a Winnebago. He was shrewd, eloquent, reckless and mis- chievous and as inveterate a hater of the whites as Black Hawk. White Cloud's home town was about thirty-five miles up the Rock River from Black Hawk's village, and as the affairs between the whites and Indians reached their climax in the threatened widespread clash, the visits between the leaders became f re- fluent. When it became known that the Gaines-Duncan expedition was headed for Rock River, in spite of the Prophet's assurance that the enemy Sauk could not be removed, Black Hawk made another call upon his supernatural adviser, "who requested a little more time to see into the matter. Early next morning," llie Sauk warrior continues, "he came to me and said he had been dreaming! WA BO-KIES-SHIEK (White Cloud "the Prophet") Prom ;i painting (from life) by Oetlin 92 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 'That he saw nothing bad in this great war chief (General Gaines) who was now near Rock River. That the object of his mission was to frighten us from our village that the white people might get our land for nothing.' He assured us that this 'great war chief dare not, and would not hurt any of us. That the Americans were at peace with the British, and when they made peace the British required (which the Americans agreed to) that they should never inter- rupt any nation of Indians that was at peace — and that all we had to do to retain our village was to refuse any and every offer that might be made by this war chief.' GENERAL GAINES CALLS A COUNCIL AT ROCK ISLAND "The war chief arrived and convened a council at the agency. Keokuk and Wapello were sent for and came with a number of their band. The council house was opened and they were all admitted. Myself and band were then sent for to attend the council. When we arrived at the door, singing a war song and armed with lances, spears, war clubs and bows and arrows, as if going to battle, I halted and refused to enter — as I could see no necessity in having the room crowded with those who were already there. If the council was convened for us, why have others in our room? The war chief having sent all out except Keokuk, Wapello and a few of their chiefs and braves, we entered the council house in this warlike appearance, being desirous to show the war chief that we were not afraid. He then rose and made a speech. He said: 'The President is very sorry to be put to the trouble and expense of sending a large body of soldiers here to remove you from the lands you have long since ceded to the United States. Your Great Father has already warned you repeatedly, through your agent, to leave the country, and he is very sorry to find that you have disobeyed his orders. Your Great Father wishes you well and asks nothing from you but what is reasonable and right. I hope you will consult your own interests and leave the country you are occupying and go to the other side of the Mississippi.' "I replied that we had never sold our country. 'We never received any annuities from our American father and we are determined to hold on to our village. ' "The war chief, apparently angry, rose and said: 'Who is Black Hawk? Who is Black Hawk?' "I responded: 'I am a Sac, my forefather was a Sac and all the nations call me a Sac!' ' ' The war chief said : ' I came here neither to beg nor to hire you to leave your village. My business is to remove you, peaceably if I can, but forcibly if I must ! I will now give you two days to remove in — and if you do not cross the Mississippi I will adopt measures to force you away.' "I told him that I never would consent to leave my village and was deter- mined not to leave it! The council broke up and the war chief retired to the fort." Black Hawk again consulted the Prophet, who said that the Great Spirit had directed that the daughter of the old chief of the village should go to the white war chief and tell him that her father had always been the white men's THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 93 friend, had been wounded in their service and that she had never heard him say that he had sold their village. The whites could take it from the occupants if they choose; but she had one favor to ask, that her people be allowed to gather the provisions growing in the fields to save the children from perishing with hanger. But General Gaines refused to make treaties with women, and I Mack Hawk directed his village crier to proclaim his orders to the effect that if the war chief came to their village to remove the Indians "not a gun should be fired nor any resistance offered. That, if he be determined to fight for them to remain quietly in their lodges and let him kill them if he choose." BLACK HAWK FINALLY SIGNS TREATY Despite the Prophet's assurance that Black Hawk would not be molested if he remained passively in his village, when the warrior's spies reported "a large body of mounted men" coming toward his town his attitude changed. When the great '"war chief," General Gaines, entered Rock River with his soldiers and one big gun, the incident passed without alarm. Says Black Hawk : "No attention was paid to the boat b} r any of our people — even our little chil- dren, who were playing on the bank of the river as usual, continued their amusement. * * * Their people were permitted to pass and repass through our village and were treated with friendship by our people. The war chief appointed the next day to remove us. I would have remained and been taken prisoner by the regulars, but was afraid of the multitude of pale faces who were on horseback, as they were under no restraint of their chiefs. "We crossed the Mississippi during the night and encamped some distance below Rock Island. The great war chief convened another council for the pur- pose of making a treaty with us." Black Hawk and his band obviously had a wholesome respect for Governor Reynolds' volunteer horsemen, and after crossing the Mississippi camped on the west side about twelve miles below Rock Island to await developments. On the morning of the next day, the citizen rangers encamped on the prairie on the site of what afterward became the town of Stephenson and still later the city of Rock Island. The horses of the brigade were confined in a bend of the Mississippi and during the night the coming of a steamboat up the river stampeded them along the banks for miles. This delayed the assembling of the council for a time; also the fact that Black Hawk failed to appear at Rock Island for several days. Finally, General Gaines peremptorily ordered him and his men to appear at Fort Armstrong and conclude a treaty of peace. The presence of these fifteen or sixteen hundred determined and mounted men, expert as riflemen, as horsemen and as woodscraftmen, was what brought Black Hawk and his twenty-seven chiefs and headsmen to the conference at Fort Armstrong. Antoine Le Claire, "a man of good sense and excellent character, was the interpreter," says Governor Reynolds, "and explained the whole trans- action so that all the warriors, including Black Hawk himself, were well ac- quainted with the contents of the treaty and the whole transaction." The treaty was signed on June 30, 1831, by General Gaines and Governor Reynolds, on the part of the United States and the State of Illinois, and "the chiefs and braves of the band of Sac Indians, usually called the British band, 94 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of Rock River, with their old allies of the Pottawatomi, Winnebago and Kick- apoo nations." It recites the violation of the treaties of 1804, 1816 and 1825, in that this British band continued to hold and cultivate the Rock River lands after they had been ceded to the United States and sold to its citizens; com- mitted acts of hostility against settlers and invited many of the Pottawatomi, Winnebago and the Kickapoo to join them, and had only been restrained from other acts of war, particularly against the State of Illinois, by the appearance of an annihilating force. Peace was therefore granted them only on condition that the British band submit to the authority of the friendly chiefs and braves of the united Sauk and Fox nation ; move west of the Mississippi and never recross it without the express permission of the President of the United States or the Governor of Illinois; that the United States guarantee to the united nation the integrity of their western lands, at the same time demanding the right to establish upon them military posts and roads for the protection of the frontier inhabitants; that the Indians Who were parties to the peace treaty cease to hold any communication with British communities or agents; that if at any time "they find themselves unable to restrain their allies, the Pot- tawatomies, Kickapoos or Winnebagoes, to give immediate information thereof to the nearest military post." The conclusion of the treaty is as follows: "And it is finally agreed by the contracting parties that henceforth permanent peace and friendship be established between the United States and the aforesaid band of Indians." The Sauk chiefs who signed the treaty were : Pashepaho, Stabbing Chief ; Wash ut, Sturgeon Head; Chakeepaxhepaho, Little Stabbing Chief; Chickak- alako, Turtle Shell; Pemesee, the one that flies. The warriors and braves: Macalamichicatak, the Black Hawk ; Menacon, the Seed ; Kakekamah, All Fish ; Neepeek, Water; Asamesaw, the one that flies too fast; Panseenanee, Paunce- man ; Wawapolasa, White Walker ; Wapaqunt ; White Hare ; Keosatah, Walker. The Fox chiefs: Wapala, the Prince; Keeteesee, the Eagle; Pawesheek, One that sifts through; Namee, One that has gone. Braves and warriors: Allotah, Morgan ; Kakakew, the Crow ; Sheshequanas, Little Gourd ; Koekoskee ; Takona, the Prisoner; Nakiskawa, the one that meets; Pamaketah, the one that stands about ; Topokia, the Night ; Molansat, the one that has his hair pulled out ; Kakamekapeo, sitting in the grease. The witnesses to the treaty were: Joseph M. Street, United States Indian Agent, at Prairie du Chien ; W. Morgan, Colonel First Infantry ; J. Bliss, Brevet Major First Infantry; George A. M'Call, Aid-de-camp to Major Gen- eral Gaines; Samuel Whiteside; Felix St. Vrain, Indian Agent, Fort Arm- strong; John S. Greathouse, M. K. Alexander, A. S. West, Antoine LeClaire (Interpreter), Joseph Danforth, Dan S. Witter and Benjamin F. Pike. GAINES AND REYNOLDS RELIEVE INDIANS' DISTRESS "During the progress of this treaty," says Stevens, "the women and chil- dren remained encamped on the west bank of the river, reduced by the im- providence of the men to the extremity of starvation. In many cases they had nothing to cover their nakedness, presenting a spectacle so appealing to Gaines and Reynolds that the former took from the general store of provisions THE HOCK RIVER VALLEY 95 and delivered to Black Hawk and his band a quantity sufficient to tide them over until another crop should have been gathered." As to this preliminary phase of the Black Hawk War, Reynolds himself says: "Although General Gaines was a brave and stern warrior, who aided much in raising the army of the United States to the glory and grandeur it so deservedly possesses, yet his heart responded in the kindest manner to the distresses of human nature. "The unfortunate women and children pertaining to the band of Black Hawk were camped on the bank of the river where they had nothing to eat or nothing to cover them from the inclemency of the weather. They had been deluded and ruined by the bad counsels and worse conduct of Black Hawk and other leaders of the tribe, but the helpless part of the band could not avoid it ; they were in the hands of the chiefs and were ruined. Their dis- tressed condition made a strong impression on General Gaines and myself. 1 knew well my feelings for these deluded people were strong. I recollect well the argument I used to General Gaines — although perhaps he had as much benevolence at heart as I had — I observed that I presumed this was the last time the Government would have any trouble with these Indians. The women and children w r ere not so much to blame; they were starving, and a support for them for one summer was nothing to the United States ; that the Government possessed their fine country and I could not be satisfied to leave them starving. We gave them more provisions than they would have raised on the fields they had left and had it delivered to them at certain periods. But they are a race of people who will not observe the least economy or prudence and I presume they did not take care of the provisions; and they were in want toward fall and winter. "Our treaty was ridiculed by the volunteers. It was called a corn treaty. It was said we gave them food when it ought to have been lead." In his account of the treaty, Black Hawk makes no mention of its salient provisions as a compact of peace with the United States; a pledge to remain on the west side of the Mississippi and to refrain from any attempt to re- occupy his village or resume friendly relations with the British. He says that in the treaty General Gaines "agreed to give us corn in place of that we had left growing in our fields. I touched the goose quill to this treaty and was determined to live in peace. 'The corn that had been given us was soon found to be inadequate to our wants; when loud lamentations were heard in the camp by our women and children for their roasting-ears, beans and squashes. To satisfy them, a small party of braves went over in the night to steal corn from their own fields. They were discovered by the whites and fired upon. Complaints were again made of the depredations committed by some of my people on their own corn fields!" REGULARS AND VOLUNTEERS DISPERSE Such incursions upon the old village lands indicate that Black Hawk either did not understand the purport of the treaty, or chose to ignore it. The regular troops had returned to St. Louis and the volunteers to their home counties in 96 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY July. In the following fall and winter, Black Hawk and his band became more and more restless, which Governor Reynolds attributed largely to the dislike and jealousy of the "Warrior for Chief Keokuk; "but," adds the chief executive, "I had not the most remote idea that he and his band would dare to attempt to recross the river again and occupy the old village. I thought this an absurdity and imprudence that no tribe of Indians would dare attempt after the proceedings of the last year. ' ' But events soon to transpire showed that Governor Reynolds' measure of the situation was incorrect. The uneasiness and untamed war spirit of Black Hawk's band revived, soon after the dispersal of the regular and volunteer army, and first showed itself in attacks upon old-time hostiles, the Sioux and Menominee, west of the Mississippi. In July, 1830, the Sioux had ceded a strip of country twenty miles in width from the Mississippi to the Des Moines river and the Sauk and Foxes a contiguous strip of the same width. This forty miles from river to river was known as Neutral Ground into which the tribes on either side of the line were allowed to enter and hunt and fish unmolested. As a whole, the treaty was considered one of peace and amity, but in the very month that the army dispersed the Sauk and Foxes attacked a peaceful encampment of Sioux near the St. Peters Indian agency and murdered two of the unoffending Indians. Complaint was made to the Indian agent and a threat made that unless the out- rage was adjusted by the Government before October 1st, the Sioux would invade the country of the Sauk. But the Sioux as a tribe could not wait upon the pleasure of the Government and soon one of its war bands waylaid a party of Foxes traveling from Dubuque to Prairie du Chien and killed Kettle, a chief of that tribe, with several of his followers. This was according to the Indian code, "blood for blood," and no action appears to have been taken against those who made the retaliatory attack. Both Sioux and Menominee participated in the surprise and bloodshed. BLOODY INDIAN REPRISALS A more serious affair than either, a link in this bloody chain of reprisals, occurred on the last of July, 1831, by which twenty-five Menominee were killed outright and others wounded. On the previous day, a band of the Menominee having business with the agent at Prairie du Chien, Joseph M. Street, was assembled on an island almost under the guns of the fort. As the Indians drank their' fill of whisky, caroused far into the night and became helplessly drunk, they were being closely observed by a war party of Sauk and Foxes. The slaughter of the helpless Menominee then commenced. The attack is thus described by the Indian agent: "Two or three hours before day on the morning of the 31st of July, 1831, a party consisting of 80 or 100 Sacs and Foxes surprised a Menominee camp, three or four hundi-ed paces above old Fort Crawford on the east side of the Mississippi, killing twenty- five of the latter and wounding many who may recover. There were about thirty or forty Menominees, men, women and children, in the camp, most of whom were drunk, and the women had hidden their guns and knives to pre- vent their hurting each other. The Sacs and Foxes, though so greatly superior in numbers and attacking by surprise a drunken and unarmed encampment, THE BOCK RIVEE VALLEY 97 Ins) several men who were seen to fall in the onset and retreated in less than ten minutes, with only a few scalps, pursued by four or five Menominees, who fired on them until they were half a mile below 7 the village. I received informa- tion and was on the ground in an hour and a half after the murders were com- mitted. The butchery was horrid, and the view can be imagined only by those acquainted with savage warfare." As the chief Pashquamee led the war party of Sauk and Foxes which mas- sacred the Menominees near Fort Crawford a council was held at Fort Arm- strong in September, 1831, at which Major J. Bliss, its commandant, and Felix St. Vrain, the United States Indian Agent, demanded that the leader and other principals concerned be surrendered to the Government through them. The chiefs who participated in the council represented that they could not restrain their young men, and that their attack on the Menominee was justifiable. Even Keokuk went so far as to ask "Why do you not let us fight? Your whites are constantly fighting. Why do you not let us be as the Great Spirit made us and let us settle our difficulties?" Black Hawk comments on this move of the United States authorities thus: 'This retaliation (which with us is considered lawful and right) created con- siderable excitement among the whites! A demand was made for the Foxes to be surrendered to, and tried by the white people! The principal men came to me during the fall and asked my advice. I conceived that they had done right and that our Great Father acted very unjustly in demanding them, when he had suffered all their chiefs to be decoyed away and murdered by the Menominees without having ever made a similar demand of them. If he had no right in the first instance, he had none now; and for my part I considered the right very questionable, if not altogether usurpation, in any case where a difference exists between two nations, for him to interfere!" It is probable that the Prophet threw the deciding weight of his great in- fluence against the United States and finally induced Black Hawk to commit the overt act which led to the war which ruined him. About the time of the massacre of the Menominee band near Fort Crawford, Neapope, Black Hawk's lieutenant, returned from another interview with the British authorities at .Maiden. He brought back the oft-repeated British assurances that the Sauk lands could not be alienated without the express action of the entire nation, and that Black Hawk and his people could not be forced away except against the united opposition of the British and Indians. Neapope said he had called at the Proph- et s village on his way down the river and had there learned for the first time that Saukenuk had been abandoned. According to White Cloud, expresses had been received from the British Father that guns, ammunition, provisions and clothing would be sent to the Sauk and Foxes by way of Milwaukee early in the coming spring. The Prophet had likewise received wampum and tobacco from the Ot- tawa, Chippewa and Pottawatomi — and as for the Winnebago, he had them all at his command. Thus the wily man of the Great Spirit continued to project himself into the affairs of Black Hawk, and make him believe that the combina- tion was invincible. But neither the Prophet nor Black Hawk and his men • •ould move Keokuk in his determination to abide by his promises to the United States. 98 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY SHABBONA FAITHFUL TO UNITED STATES One of the keenest disappointments suffered by Black Hawk and his fellow conspirator, the Prophet, was their failure to effect a formal alliance with the Pottawatomi and Ottawa against the United States. In February, 1832, they met representatives of those tribes at Indiantown, now Tiskilwa, Bureau County. In that council, largely attended, the voice of but one Pottawatomie chief was raised in favor of war and union with Black Hawk and that was the pledge given by old Waupanseh. Shabbona, the right hand man of Tecumseh and who was at the side of the great Shawnee when he fell at the battle of the Thames, opposed the alliance with all the strength of his wide influence and the power of his eloquence. In this attitude he had stanchly stood with Tecumseh 's other lieutenant, Billy Caldwell, the Sauganash, or Britisher, since the defeat and death of their superior in 1813. Shabbona, chief of the Pottawatomi, is described as "a fine specimen of one of Cooper's Indians, dignified, honest, just and straight in appearance as an arrow." For his services to the white men of the Illinois and Rock River valleys his memory is revered and numerous are the stories of his manly and helpful character which grace the local pages of the Atkinson section of Henry County, and the regions around Ottawa and Morris, La Salle and Grundy counties. The father of Shabbona belonged to the Ottawa tribe, a portion of which at the time of Pontiac's conspiracy against the United States inhabited a portion of the country lying south of Lake Superior. With the defeat of the great Ottawa chieftain, the father returned with him to the Illinois country. Shab- bona himself was born near the Maumee River, in Ohio, about the time of the opening of the Revolutionary War. In early manhood he married the daughter of a Pottawatomie chief whose village was on the Illinois River bot- tom, a few miles above the present city of Ottawa. After living there for sev- eral years he found the locality so unhealthful that he moved with his family, or band, to what afterward was known as Shabbona Grove, a beautiful "prairie is 1 and" situated in the southern part of DeKalb County, some twenty-five miles north of Ottawa. Here he and his band had their village and council house until the fall of 1837, at which time they numbered about 130 souls. His immediate family included two wives, children, grandchildren, nephews and other relatives numbering twenty-five of the band. In 1810, when Shabbona was about twenty-five years of age, Tecumseh, ac- companied by Caldwell and two others, visited the Pottawatomie villages in the Illinois country for the purpose of inducing them to join his tribal combination against the whites. He induced Shabbona to accompany the party on their mission and together they visited the scattered tribes in the valleys of the Illinois, Fox and Rock rivers; thence, via Green Bay and the Wisconsin River as far northwest as La Crosse and south as far as Rock Island. At this point, Shabbona left his companions and returned home to his Grove. The young Pottawatomie chief tain was wisely selected by Tecumseh to accompany the party ; for, as stated by Colonel Gurdon S. Hubbard, the famed fur trader and Chicago pioneer, who afterward met and admired Shabbona: "He had an uncommonly retentive memory and a perfect knowledge of this western country. He could readily draw on the sand or bed of ashes quite a correct map of GOVERNOR THOMAS FORD Early resident of Oregon Vol. I— T 100 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the whole district from the lakes west to the Missouri River, giving general courses of rivers, designating towns and places of notoriety, though he had never seen them. ' ' It was such a strong Indian as this that Black Hawk and the Prophet vainly endeavored to win over to their proposed war against the United States. Like Sauganash and Keokuk, Shabbona had come to an unshaken realization that the white man's power could never be really shaken by any force which his race might bring against it. Therefore, at the council held in Indiantown, when Black Hawk asserted that a union with the Pottawatomi would raise up an army of warriors equal in number to the trees of the forest, Shabbona replied: "Yes, and the army of the pale faces you will have to encounter will be as numerous as the leaves on those trees." But Black Hawk was now determined to recross the Mississippi and recruit his army on its peaceable march up the Rock River Valley. He made a last desperate attempt to break the power of Keokuk and unite the Sauk and Foxes as an Indian nation hostile to the United States. His dramatic attempt and total defeat by his powerful and wise adversary are described by Dr. M. M. Quaife, in his "History of Wisconsin." The main facts of this oratorical en- counter between the leaders of the war and the peace parties are said to have entered historical channels through the agency of one Josiah Smart, an eaves- dropper sent by Colonel George Davenport, the noted Indian trader and one of the founders of the town which bears his name. Perry A. Armstrong, of the prominent La Salle County family, brings the story out at length in his history of "The Sauks and the Black Hawk War," and Dr. Quaife draws the follow- ing picture from all the accessible sources of information: "With the object of winning over Keokuk's followers, Black Hawk paid a visit to the village of the latter, accompanied by several hundred of his own warriors. Here he planted a war post and in ancient Indian fashion issued the call to arms. After his braves had indulged in the usual war dance, Black Hawk delivered a fiery oration which had the effect of rousing his hearers to a delirious frenzy. Painting an idyllic picture of the ancient happiness and prosperity of the tribe, he retold the story of the coming of the white man and dwelt upon the numer- ous evils which had flowed from this visitation. Slowly but surely they were driving the Indians toward the setting sun, 'burning our villages, destroying our growing crops, ravishing our wives and daughters, beating our papooses with cruel sticks, and brutally murdering our people upon the most flimsy pretenses and trivial causes. Even now,' he continued, 'they are running their plows through our graveyards, turning up the bones and ashes of our sacred dead, whose spirits are calling to us from the land of dreams for ven- geance on the despoilers. ' The oration concluded with an appeal to his hearers not to belie the ancient reputation of their tribe for valor, and recited the promises of aid that had been held out to them. "Among savages as among civilized people the leader who opposes the call to war labors under a fearful handicap. The fiery eloquence of Black Hawk swept Keokuk's followers from their feet, and the control of that leader over THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 101 them seemed about to vanish. Neapope followed Black Hawk, repeated the assurances of support to be received from other tribes and from the British, and even naming the vessel in which the latter would be brought to Milwaukee. Keokuk's warriors crowded around that cbieftain demanding to be led on the warpath with Black Hawk's followers. "In this dilemma Keokuk chose his position with consummate skill and in a speech which deserves to rank as a masterpiece of human eloquence undid the work of his rival. Advancing to the war post he laid his hands upon it and began to talk. He fully shared, he said, the indignation of his warriors over the wrongs committed by the white men. Continuing, he pictured the numbers of the whites and their resources in guns and other implements of warfare. 'Their cabins are as plenty as the trees in the forest, and their soldiers are springing up like grass on the prairies. In a contest where our numbers are so unequal to theirs, we must ultimately fail. All that we can reasonably hope or expect is to wreak the utmost of our vengeance upon their hated heads and fall, when fall we must, with our faces to the enemy. Great is our undertak- ing and desperate must be our exertions. Every brave and warrior able to throw a tomahawk or wield a war club must go with us. Once across the Mis- sissippi, let no one think of returning while there is a foe to strike or a scalp to take, and when we fall, if our strength permits, let us drag our feeble, bleed- ing bodies to the graves of our ancestors and there die, that our ashes may mingle with theirs, while our departing spirits shall follow the long trail made by them in their passage to the land of spirits. " 'It is my duty as your chief to be your father while in the paths of peace and your leader and champion while on the warpath. You have decided to follow the path of war, and I will lead you forth to victory if the Good Spirit prevails. If not, and the Bad Spirit rules, then will I perish at the post of duty. " 'But what shall we do with our old and infirm, our women and children? "We cannot take them with us upon the warpath, for they would hamper us in our movements and defeat us of our vengeance. We dare not leave them behind us, doomed to perish of hunger or fall captive to the palefaces, who would murder the old and the young, but reserve our wives and daughters for a fate worse than death itself. " ' I will lead you forth upon the warpath, but upon this condition : That we first put our wives and children, our aged and infirm, gently to sleep in that slumber which knows no waking this side the spirit land, and then care- fully and tenderly lay their bodies away by the side of our sacred dead, whence their fond spirits shall depart on the long journey to the happy home in the land of dreams beneath, beyond the evening star. For we go upon a long trail which has no turn, from which, in a few short moons, we shall follow them ; but they must not follow us. This sacrifice is demanded of us by the very love we bear those dear ones. Our every feeling of humanity tells us that we cannot take them with us and dare not leave them behind us.' "The delirious warriors were momentarily cowed by the orator's vivid pic- ture of the awful sacrifice demanded of them. Pursuing his advantage, Keokuk sought to show the falsity of the promises of British and Indian alliances and the folly of Black Hawk's undertaking. His appeal to that leader to turn aside 102 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY from the 'crooked path into the path that leads to peace' was fruitless, but he had completely won his case with his own warriors, and in this first contest of oratory Black Hawk suffered complete defeat." The nation of the Sauk and the Foxes was still divided into the parties of peace and war. Keokuk knew his wing of the nation well and, while he seemed about to step from the peace-path to the warpath, he well knew that the awful proviso that he held forth — the slaughter of loved and feeble kindred — would prevent his warriors from following him to futile battle against the white race. The reckless followers of Black Hawk did what Keokuk said could not be done. He did not kill his women and children, the old and infirm — but took them with him. It is true he advertised his adventure as one of non-resistance and peace, but he and his followers knew that he could not invade the country east of the Mississippi and maintain such an attitude toward the United States. BLACK HAWK RECROSSES THE MISSISSIPPI After the verbal contest with Keokuk, Black Hawk and his party of women, children, old men and the infirm, with their dogs and household goods, moved down the river and spent the winter of 1831-32 at the deserted site of old Fort Madison near the mouth of the Des Moines River. In the early days of April, 1832, Black Hawk's party was retracing its course up the Mississippi Valley by land and water. On the 6th of the month a point was reached on the Iowa side opposite the Yellow Banks at what is now Oquawka, Henderson County, Illi- nois ; and on that day and at that place the motley remnant of the Sauk nation crossed its Rubicon. Some two thousand souls thus ventured into forbidden territory, of whom five hundred were men of war, fully equipped according to the traditions and adaptations of their race. Black Hawk's account of his return to the eastern shores of the Mississippi and the commencement of his march up the Rock River Valley is thus recorded : "Conceiving that the peaceable disposition of Keokuk and his people had been, in a great measure, the cause of our having been driven from our village, I ascribed their present feelings to the same cause; and immediately went to work to recruit all my own band and make preparations to ascend Rock River. I made my encampment on the Mississippi where Fort Madison had stood; requested my people to rendezvous at that place, and sent out soldier's to bring in the warriors, and stationed my sentinels in a position to prevent any from moving up until all were ready. "My party having all come in and got ready, we commenced our march up the Mississippi — our women and children in canoes, carrying such provisions as we had, camp equipage, etc., and my braves and warriors on horseback, armed and equipped for defense. The prophet came down and joined us below Rock River, having called at Rock Island on his way down to consult the war chief, agent and trader, who (he said) used many arguments to dissuade him from going with us ; and requested him to come and meet us and turn us back. They told him, also, there was a war chief on his way to Rock Island (General Atkinson) with a large body of soldiers. The Prophet said he would not listen to such talk, because no war chief dare molest us as long as we are at peace. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 103 That we had a right to go where we pleased peaceably; and advised me to say nothing to my braves and warriors until we encamped that night. "We moved onward until we arrived at the place where General Gaines had made his encampment the year before and encamped for the night. The Prophet then addressed my braves and warriors. He told them to 'follow us and act like braves, and we had nothing to fear, but much to gain. That the American war chief might come, but he would not, dare not, interfere with us so long as we acted peaceably ! That we were not yet ready to act otherwise. We must wait until we ascend Rock River and receive our reenforcements, and we will then be able to withstand any army!' "That night the "White Beaver (General Atkinson) with a party of soldiers passed up in steamboats. Our party became alarmed, expecting to meet sol- diers at Rock River to prevent us from going up. On our arrival at its mouth we discovered that the steamboats had passed on. I was fearful that the war chief had stationed his men on some bluff or in some ravine, that we might be taken by surprise. Consequently, on entering Rock River we commenced beating our drums and singing to show the Americans that we were not afraid. "Having met with no opposition, we moved up Rock River leisurely some distance, when we were overtaken by an express from White Beaver with an order for me to return with my band and recross the Mississippi. I sent him word that I would not (not recognizing his right to make such a demand), as I was acting peaceably and intended to go to the Prophet's village, at his request, to 'make corn.' EXPRESSES FROM ATKINSON SENT BACK "The express returned. We moved on and encamped some distance below the Prophet's village. Here another express came from the White Beaver, threatening to pursue us and drive us back, if we did not return peaceably! This message roused the spirit of my band, and all were determined to remain with me and contest the ground with the war chief should he come and attempt to drive us. We therefore directed the express to say to the war chief 'if he wished to fight us he might come on.' We were determined never to be driven and equally so, not to make the first attack, our object being to act only on the defensive." As the Sauk and Foxes had made no attempt to deliver to the Govern- ment of the United States those of their nation who were chiefly responsible for the massacre of the Menominee Indians, General Henry Atkinson, then in com- mand at Jefferson Barracks, received an order from the War Department to demand from the united nation at least eight or ten of the principal murderers. On April 8, 1832, a week later, General Atkinson started for the upper Missis- sippi to carry out that order, in command of six companies (220 men) of the Sixth Infantry. A second lieutenant in that command and assistant to the adjutant general was Albert Sidney Johnston, who, thirty years later, was to gain fame as one of the most brilliant military leaders of the Civil War. On April 10th. the expedition arrived at the rapids of the Des Moines, when Gen- eral Atkinson was informed that Black Hawk had crossed to the east bank of the Mississippi four days before. Through this information the expedition as- sumed significant importance. 104 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY REGULARS AND VOLUNTEERS AGAIN ORGANIZE General Atkinson and his troops arrived at Fort Armstrong on the 12th and on the following day called a council. It was attended by Keokuk and seventy of his head men, including Wapello. According to his instructions General Atkinson demanded the surrender of ten of the principal men concerned in the massacre. Keokuk replied that he was uable to deliver them, as some had joined the Prophet's band and others were with Black Hawk. Both he and Wapello also agreed to ask Black Hawk to turn back and to try to keep their village at peace, while General Atkinson continued to Fort Crawford. On the day of the council, the General sent a letter to Governor Reynolds asking him to again call out the militia and drive Black Hawk and his band from the State. General Atkinson also started up the river for Fort Crawford to secure all the reenf orcements which could be secured from that garrison, and returned to Fort Armstrong with two companies of the First Infantry and Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor. At the same time he sent messengers to Fort Winne- bago and the lead mines district to admonish the settlers to place themselves in a state of defense. Governor Reynolds issued his call for an indefinite number of troops on April 16th, as "the British band of Sacs and other hostile Indians headed by Black Hawk" were in possession of the Rock River country "to the great terror of the frontier inhabitants." The rendezvous was fixed at Beardstown; the time, April 22nd. On the day that he issued his call for troops, the Governor advised the Secretary of War, Lewis Cass, of his military proceedings, and also com- municated with Hon. Joseph Duncan, congressman at Washington, to provide pay for the volunteers. On his way from Belleville to Beardstown, by way of Jacksonville, Reynolds visited the counties in the southwestern part of the state and the news which he received indicated the seriousness of the situation and the alarm of the people in the Rock River Valley. The letter which he received from Dixon was espe- cially of a disturbing nature. That settlement was then in the Indian country and the center of a considerable force of Pottawatomi and Winnebago. The communication, dated the 20th, stated that these tribes had joined Black Hawk, and urged the speedy protection of the frontiers in that section. Kellogg 's trail between Peoria and Dixon's Ferry appeared to be threatened, and com- munication cut with the lead district of Galena and the northwest. To guard against that danger the Governor sent two battalions of militia under Major Isaiah Stillman of Fulton County and Major David Bailey of Tazewell County. By the 27th of April, the volunteer army of about two thousand men was all ready to march from Beardstown. Reports were so threatening from the Rock River Valley that Governor Reynolds felt that he could not wait for sup- plies from St. Louis, or even for wagons to convey those which were in hand. So with only a few days' provisions the expedition marched for the Yellow Banks, while he dispatched one of his officers to hurry the supplies from St. Louis to meet his army at that point. As he was about to set out for the Mis- sissippi he received word from General Atkinson that the hostile Indians had passed up Rock River Valley. This news was a great disappointment to Rey- nolds, for, as he says: "This information was one day too late. If I had THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 105 received it in time I would have made Peoria the place to meet the provisions and from that point to pursue the Indians — but the die was cast. I could not do otherwise than march to the Yellow Banks. It is probable that if we had marched by Peoria, direct to Rock River, the campaign would have been closed in eight or ten days." COLLAPSE OF THE CAMPAIGN When the volunteer army reached the Yellow Banks, no provisions had ar- rived from St. Louis, but on May 5th the welcome relief came, and ten days' provisions were at once issued to each soldier. All was now ready for a direct march of the whole brigade to Dixon, but before the men could get in motion a letter was received by Governor Reynolds that Black Hawk and his Indians had descended Rock River. "So," concludes the chief executive and commander of the home troops ""We dashed our provisions into the boat in disgust and all marched to the mouth of Rock River." The end of the first phase of the campaign against Black Hawk was the culmination of a series of misunderstand- ings, misinformation and futile marches and countermarches. COL. HENRY GRATIOT 'S NARROW ESCAPE In the meantime, all had gone wrong with the plans of Black Hawk and the Prophet. The head warrior found that he had been deceived as to the promise of assistance and alliance given him, mainly through the representa- tive of the Great Spirit. Black Hawk evidently decided that he could go for- ward — up the valley — with less risk than to return. He had sent word by Gen- eral Atkinson's messengers who had overtaken him below Prophetstown that "his heart was bad and he was determined not to turn back." The decision of the warrior closely followed the failure of the General to convert the Prophet to the American cause and persuade him to use his influence in turning the deluded British band back to its Iowa reservation. Prophetstown was in the jurisdic- tion of the United States Sub-Indian agent, Colonel Henry Gratiot, whose head- quarters were just over the state line in Lafayette County. As he had the unbounded confidence of the Winnebago, his special wards, the Government believed that he might influence the Prophet, who was considered Black Hawk's evil genius. Accompanied by twenty-four Winnebago chiefs and head men, who had joined him at Turtle Village, Colonel Gratiot had descended the Rock River in canoes from Dixon's Ferry to Prophetstown. Despite his peaceful mission and the flag of truce which he bore, the Government agent was made prisoner by hostile Sauk. The British flag had been raised in Black Hawk's camp and there was every indication that Colonel Gratiot's life was in danger when the council lodge in which he was staying was surrounded by Black Hawk's braves. There are several stories in circulation as to whether the War- rior or the Prophet saved his life. Black Hawk says: "After the council adjourned, I placed a sentinel at the agent's lodge to guard him — fearing that some of my warriors might again frighten him. I had always thought that he was a good man and was deter- mined that he should not be hurt. He started, with his chiefs, for Rock Island." 106 THE ROCK EIVER VALLEY The generally accepted version of Gratiot's adventure, which is far more stirring than Black Hawk's bald account, is that prepared by Hon. E. B. Wash- burne, who afterward married a daughter of Colonel Gratiot. It reads, in part: "The Prophet, seeing the danger of his agent, rushed to his rescue, crying ' Good man, good man, my friend. I take him to my wigwam. I feed him. He be good friend of my Indians. ' "When the Prophet had him securely in the wigwam, Colonel Gratiot ex- plained the peaceful object of his mission and the perfidy of the Indians if they refused to deal honorably with him. He further sought, with all the eloquence and logic he could muster, to dissuade the Prophet and Black Hawk from their unrighteous expedition. The Prophet listened attentively, but if any impres- sion had been made upon him it was not noticeable in word or action, and neither could he be persuaded to try to influence Black Hawk to give up his mad enterprise. However, as a friend, the Prophet was determined to save Colonel Gratiot's life, if such a thing were possible. He kept him in the wig- wam for two or three days, watching an opportunity to free him. The ferocious Sacs clamored louder each hour for scalps, and no doubt would have succeeded in taking them had not the Prophet seduced them away temporarily by prom- ises until the desired opportunity should arrive. Returning hastily on the 27th, he said to Colonel Gratiot: 'Chouteau, you have always been my friend and the friend of my people, and you and your party must not be harmed; but there is great trouble. My young men will never consent to give you up and so you must leave without their knowledge. Your canoes are on the shore. Go to them when I shall indicate and leave instantly, and go with speed — like wild fire — for the young men will give you chase. All will depend on the strength of your arms.' "The signal was given, and scarcely had the canoes been launched when an alarm in the village brought the Sacs and young Winnebagoes to the river, where a wild war whoop was sounded and an exciting chase down Rock River was begun to capture and kill Colonel Gratiot. Gratiot's men pulled for their lives, first losing and then gaining. The maddened Sacs whooped and shrieked with anger at the possible miscarriage of their plans as they lent renewed vigor to their strokes, but a sense of their overwhelming danger put courage and strength into the oars of the pursued and they finally distanced their pursuers, arriving safely at Fort Armstrong on April 27th, unnerved and exhausted, to report that nothing could be done by moral suasion to prevent the advance of Black Hawk and that nothing but force would avail. "While captive in the Prophet's tent, Black Hawk came to see him, and in response to the appeal of Gratiot to return, replied that his heart was bad ; that he was going sixty miles up the river and if molested would fight. ' ' REORGANIZATION OF THE PURSUIT EXPEDITION With the report that Black Hawk and his men were returning down the river, Governor Reynolds gathered his volunteer army at the mouth of the Rock River, where he arrived on the night of May 7, 1832. On the following day the state troops were sworn into the service of the United States by Gen- eral Atkinson. The volunteers were organized into four regiments, two spy THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 107 battalions and an odd battalion. Governor Reynolds as commander-in-chief of the State Militia at once ordered an election of all the field officers of the volunteer army, and as it was the general desire that he march with the brigade lie named his staff. He also appointed Samuel Whiteside as brigadier general and Nathaniel Buckmaster, brigade major, with Major James D. Henry to com- mand the spy battalion. The officers elected were: John Thomas, colonel of the First Regiment; Jacob Fry, of the Second; Abraham B. DeWitt, of the Third ; Samuel M. Thompson, of the Fourth ; Major Thomas James, commander of the odd spy battalion, and Major Thomas Long, in command of the foot bat- talion. In addition to these troops, the battalions of Major Isaiah Stillman and David Bailey had been ordered to range the country and concentrate at Dixon's Ferry. Although not sworn in formally, they were considered units of the army. When the volunteers were sworn into the service of the United States, Gen- eral Atkinson assumed command of the consolidated army. Governor Reynolds' military position in the campaign of which he was such an active and important figure is thus explained by himself: "Although I was not in command, it was eonsidered proper by General Atkinson and myself that I should remain with the army, and I did so. I discovered that my presence and counsel to the volunteers had a tendency to harmonize and conciliate them with the regular army. Immediately under my command, I had many troops guarding the fron- tiers (such as those of Major Stillman and Major Bailey), so that I consid- ered it my duty in advancing the service for me to act with the army all summer; which I did. Although I never requested it, the President recognized me as a major general, and paid me accordingly. Not any time during the summer and long after the treaties with the Indians were made, did I know the rank and situation the General Government recognized me in." The total force of state troops, eagerly awaiting the call of General Atkin- son to advance up the Rock River Valley and force Black Hawk and his Brit- ish band from Illinois soil, was 1,935, and of the regulars less than 1,000. When Black Hawk began his march up the valley, there were five forts upon which the Government drew for troops during the progress of the cam- paign: Fort Armstrong, commanded by Major John Bliss, of the First Regi- ment, U. S. A. ; Fort Crawford, in command of Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor, also of the First; Jefferson Barracks, of which the commander was Colonel Henry Atkinson, of the Sixth ; Canton Leavenworth, Major William Davenport, also of the Sixth, commandant, and Fort Winnebago, in command of Lieutenant Colonel Enos Cutler. ZACHARY TAYLOR IN COMMAND OF REGULARS On the 9th of May, 1832, the army was set in motion at the mouth of Rock River and headed for Dixon's Ferry. Under orders issued by General Atkinson, commander-in-chief, Colonel Taylor was placed in active command of the forces in the field. The regulars under Zachary Taylor comprised six companies of the Sixth Regiment, under the immediate command of Major Bennet Riley, as well as companies of the First Infantry-, drawn from Forts Crawford and Arm- strong. Lieutenant Sidney Burbank, of the First, acting quartermaster of the post at Fort Armstrong, was ordered to store such clothing, provisions and 108 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ammunition as should be left by the troops under marching orders. Major Beall, of the First Infantry, was charged with the safe-keeping of the three Indian prisoners who had been turned over to the Government by "Wapello as participants in the Menominee massacre. The general orders governing the preliminary steps of the campaign launched against Black Hawk were dated May 9, 1832, and specified that — WHITESIDE BRIGADIER GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS "The mounted volunteers will move in the morning under Brigadier Gen- eral Whiteside by the route of the Winnebago Prophet's village, with a view of reaching the hostile band of Indians assembled on Rock River near or above Dixon 's Ferry. The Regular troops will move by water and meet the mounted troops at Prophet's village. Should General Whiteside, however, on reaching Prophet's village be of the opinion that it would be prudent to come up with the enemy with as little delay as possible, he will move upon him and either make him surrender at discretion or coerce him into submission. "Colonel Taylor, First Regiment, will assume the command of the Infantry of Illinois at this place. They will move by water in conjunction with the U. S. Infantry now under his orders, and will be assigned to the charge of trans- porting a portion of the munitions, supplies, etc., for the troops. "Lieutenant Robert Anderson, Third Regiment Artillery, will, till further orders, perform the duties of Assistant Inspector General of the troops now in the field." Besides those already mentioned, a brief note may be made of a number of officers among the regulars and volunteers who afterward became characters of national fame. William S. Harney was captain of one of the companies which went from Fort Armstrong and was identified with the First Infantry, in which was also Jefferson Davis, then a First Lieutenant. In the Fourth Regi- ment of volunteers were four companies, one from Sangamon County being commanded by Abraham Lincoln. The volunteer army in command of General Whiteside, the brave old Indian fighter, commenced its march up the eastern bank of the Rock River toward the village of the Winnebago Prophet on the morning of the 10th of May and reached their objective in the afternoon. On the day before, Governor Reynolds had sent out two of his spies, Colonel John Ewing and Major John A. Wake- field, who met the troops at this point and reported that they had located Black Hawk on the Rock River above Dixon's Ferry. Finding the Winnebago village deserted, the troopers set fire to it and burned it to the ground; which seemed like rather a wanton act of destruction, as it could have little effect on the campaign. STATE TROOPS LEAVE HEAVY BAGGAGE BEHIND The volunteers encamped about twelve miles above the ruins of Prophets- town, where General Whiteside and the Governor decided to leave the heavy baggage behind and make a forced march to overtake the Indians. Reynolds THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 109 dispatched a letter to General Atkinson advising him of the facts, and the army continued their advance early the next morning, hoping to overtake Black Hawk in a siiort time. On the morning of the 12th, the state troops reached Dixon's Ferry, where information was received from John Dixon and other reliable sources that scouts had come in touch with scattered bodies of Black Hawk's band fifty miles up the river; that they were busy collecting food and were nowhere in such a body as to make an attack effective. The pursuit was there- fore abandoned for the time being. It was thought best to await the arrival of General Atkinson with the boats and provisions, as the supplies for the volun- teers would only last a day or two. Judging from the information received, Governor Reynolds believed that Black Hawk was endeavoring to obtain asylum with the Pottawatomi, and at once sent messengers to Pawpaw Grove (or Shabbona's Village, forty miles to the southeast), in order to dissuade the chiefs of that tribe from granting it. Although his messengers were intercepted by Black Hawk's men and turned back to Dixon's Ferry, it is now well known that the emissaries of Black Hawk who endeavored at this time to make an alliance with Shabbona met with a decided repulse. But there was a strong war party of the Pottawatomi, led by Big Foot and the notorious Mike Girty; it originated in the general support which the British received from the tribe as a whole in the AYar of 1812. Accessions from this party were at a later date gathered to Black Hawk's standard, albeit the most influential leaders of the Pottawatomi took the attitude of Shabbona and Keokuk — that the United States was now too powerful to be successfully opposed by any Indian alliance. FIRST DEFINITE NEWS OF BLACK HAWK'S LOCATION When the volunteer army reached Dixon's Ferry, on May 12, 1832, Governor Reynolds and General Whiteside obtained first-hand information as to the strength of Black Hawk's band. The warrior-in-chief, with the Prophet and Neapope, had broken bread with Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, and before he departed his fighting force was carefully observed and estimated to number about 800. After the American brigade of about 2,000 men had been provisioned, it was evident that a march in pursuit of Black Hawk would not be a hazardous undertaking. The ranger battalions of Majors Stillman and Bailey, with a sim- ilar detachment under a Captain Bowman, had been impatiently waiting at the Ferry for two days. As they had plenty of provisions and had performed little service since they were organized, they were eager for action. When Reynolds and Whiteside arrived at Dixon's Ferry they also found several prominent men from the mining country, including Colonel James M. Strode, commander of the militia of Jo Daviess County; James W. Stephen- son; William S. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton; Colonel Henry Gratiot and Louis Ouilmette, the trader. Colonel Henry Dodge of Michigan Territory had already organized a company of rangers to protect the mining district, or the northwestern frontier. James H. Gentry was captain of the company which was encamped on the north side of Rock River within striking distance of Black Hawk's band, and nearly opposite the mouth of the Kishwaukee River. CHAPTER V. BATTLING AND BATTERING BLACK HAWK GOVERNOR REYNOLDS SENDS RANGERS AFTER BLACK HAWK STILLMAN STARTS FOR OLD MAN'S CREEK, ABOVE DIXON COMMAND ROUTED BY PART OF BLACK HAWK'S BAND REFUGEES FLEE TO DIXON *S FERRY ACCOUNT OF DISASTER FROM BOTH INDIAN AND AMERICAN SOURCES SOBERING EFFECT ON VOLUNTEERS — AWAIT PROVISIONS FROM FORT ARMSTRONG REUNITED ARMY UNDER GENERAL ATKINSON LEAVES DIXON 's FERRY IN PURSUIT OF BLACK HAWK AND HIS BAND SHABBONA 'S SERVICE — THE INDIAN CREEK MASSACRE CAPTURE OF THE HALL SISTERS THE MURDER OF ST. VRAIN, INDIAN AGENT AT FORT ARMSTRONG MUSTER-OUT OF VOL- UNTEERS ONE TWENTY-DAY REGIMENT REENLISTS CAPTAIN SNYDER 's COMPANY AMBUSHED AT KELLOGG 's GROVE} NEW VOLUNTEER ARMY OF THREE THOUSAND FORMED DISTURBANCES IN LEAD DISTRICT HEROIC REPULSE OF BLACK HAWK'S WARRIORS FROM APPLE RrVER FORT MAJOR DEMENT 'S SPY BATTALION SURPRISED BY THE SAUK AT KELLOGG 'S GROVES MOST OF THE* AMERICANS REACHED THE FORT SEVERAL MEN AND MANY HORSES KILLED AND WOUNDED ARMY RE- SUMES ADVANCE UP ROCK RIVER VALLEY REACHES LAKE KOSHKONONG GOV- ERNOR REYNOLDS LEAVES FOR HOME BLACK HAWK'S CAMP DEFINITELY LOCATED PURSUIT BY HENRY AND DODGED — THE BATTLE OF WISCONSIN HEIGHTS BLACK HAWK CRUSHED AS A WARRIOR WITH WARRIORS, WOMEN AND CHILDREN CROSSES THE WISCONSIN — JUNCTURE OF REGULARS AND VOLUNTEERS AT HELENA BAT- TLE AND MASSACRE NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE BAD AXE AND ON THE MISSISSIPPI BLACK HAWK AND SMALL BAND ESCAPE GENERAL HENRY, THE HERO OF THE WAR ROBERT ANDERSON MUSTERS OUT TROOPS CAPTURE OF BLACK HAWK AND THE PROPHET TREATIES GROWING OUT OF THE WAR — BLACK HAWK AND OTHER SAUK LEADERS TURNED OVER TO KEOKUK BLACK HAWK AND THE PROPH- ET TOUR THE EAST — THE LAST DAYS OF THE SAUK WARRIOR ON HIS IOWA RESERVATION. Up to this time, the pursuing Americans had been following only the shadow of Black Hawk. But the location of the leader of the fleeing Sauk came more and more definitely into view, and it became evident that the light-moving rangers and other volunteers were destined to clash with more than Indian shadows. REYNOLDS SENDS RANGERS AFTER BLACK HAWK Governor Reynolds was still the constitutional commander of the Illinois Militia which had not been sworn into the service of the United States. As that branch of the military service included the rangers, who had been designated 110 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 111 to guard the frontiers, the Stillman and Bailey battalions were under his juris- diction. "It was rumored, " he says, "that a small band of the Black Hawk party was camped at the head of Old Man's Creek, about twelve miles above Dixon. I considered that these troops would be better moving than camped, and that it was my duty to place them on the frontier. They might discover the enemy." STILLMAN STARTS FOR OLD MAN 's CREEK The Governor, therefore, signed an order issued by General "Whiteside, in command of the brigade of mounted volunteers, directing these battalions under Major Stillman (who then held the position of general of the state militia north of the Illinois River) to proceed with four days' rations to the head of Old Man's Creek for the purpose of taking "all cautious measures" to coerce the enemy Indians into submission. It is said that the bitter rivalry of the two majors, each supported by bitter partisans, materially interfered with the har- mony and effectiveness of the expedition. The force of mounted rangers which thus went forth against Black Hawk numbered over 200. A baggage train of six wagons, drawn by oxen and guarded by fifty men, followed in the rear bearing the four days' rations. The line moved on the morning (Sunday) of May 13th. A pelting rain compelled a halt for the night and continued until late in the morning of the 14th. About dark of that day Old Man's Creek was reached, so swollen by recent rains that a forbidding swamp had been formed at its southern approach. The troops there crossed to the northern side of the stream, where they found more solid ground and a protecting growth of scrub oak, with a fringe of taller willows. To these willows the horses were unsaddled and tied, tent poles were fixed and covered, fires were made and a general preparation for supper was progressing when three Indians appeared in camp bearing a white flag. Reynolds says that Major Stillman neglected to have either spies or sentinels out at this important crisis; while the Major him- self, in an account which he soon afterword wrote, insists that he had kept out his most experienced spies and a very strong guard, front, rear and flank, dur- ing the entire day; his spies had killed two Indians the day before. Whatever may have been his precautions to guard against surprise, Major Stillman had not ascertained the strength of the enemy against whom he was marching. If Black Hawk's story is to be credited, the Indian spies whom he had sent out had obtained more definite information about the Stillman force and its location. The Sauk warrior, who was then encamped with about forty of his braves, at the mouth of Sycamore Creek, or the south branch of the Kish- waukee River, had been unable to obtain corn from the Pottawatomi — who also disclaimed any knowledge of British assistance by way of Milwaukee. He had finally discovered that the Winnebago — and Pottawatomi — were not favorably disposed toward his enterprise, but he was still enjoying a dog feast with some invited Pottawatomie chiefs when word was brought to him of Stillman 's horse- men about eight, miles away. Be had decided to tell his people that if the White Beaver (General Atkinson) came after him he would go back, "as it was useless to think of stopping or going on without provisions." 112 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY COMMAND ROUTED BY BLACK HAWK When Black Hawk received the news of the advance of Stillman's force — three or four hundred men, it was reported to him — he sent the three young Indians with the flag of truce who were retained as hostages. In justification of what would be considered an irregular military proceeding had the oppos- ing forces been whites, it has been stated that Stillman had brought with him no interpreter capable of ascertaining the errand of the Black Hawk messengers. Their chief explains it and describes the steps which led to the encounter of his small band of warriors with the American rangers in the following words : "I immediately started three young men with a white flag to meet them and conduct them to our camp that we might hold a council with them and descend Rock River again; and directed them in case the whites encamped to return and go and see them. After this party had started, I sent five young men to see what might take place. The first party went to the encampment of the whites and were taken prisoners. The last party had not proceeded far before they saw about twenty young men coming toward them in full gallop ! They stopped, and finding that the whites were coming so fast in a warlike attitude they turned and retreated, but were pursued and two of them overtaken and killed. "When they came in with the news, I was preparing my flags to meet the war chief. "The alarm was given. Nearly all my young men were absent about ten miles off. I started with what I had left (about forty) and proceeded but a short distance before we saw a part of the army approaching. I raised a yell and said to my braves : ' Some of our people have been killed ! Wantonly and cruelly murdered! We must avenge their death.' "In a little while we discovered the whole army coming towards us in full gallop. We were now confident that our first party had been killed. I imme- diately placed my men in front of some bushes that we might have the first fire when they approached close enough. They made a halt some distance from us. I gave another yell and ordered my brave warriors to charge upon them, expecting that we would all be killed ! They did charge ! Every man rushed and fired and the enemy retreated in the utmost confusion and consternation before my little but brave band of warriors." Two of the three young men whom Black Hawk had sent to Stillman's camp with the flag of truce returned to the camp of the Sauk warrior and told the story of their experience. They represented that an American soldier who spoke the Sauk language told them his chief (Stillman) wanted to know where Black Hawk's camp was and the object of their coming. Their reply was that as Black Hawk had given up all intention of going to war he wished to hold a council with the chief of the American soldiers. At the conclusion of that talk the Sauk delegation said that they were fired upon by a party of white horsemen and one of the three killed. The other two hid themselves until they could join in the pursuit of Stillman's routed men, and each took the scalp of a white soldier. The sur- vivors of the Sauk peace delegation who told Black Hawk the story of the run- ning fight with the Stillman force said that the warriors found ten more dead whites on their way back to camp. Sifting the various accounts of the engage- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 113 incut which have come down from white sources it seems likely that the Indians lost about the same number. The pursuit of the five Indians whom Black Hawk had placed as an observa- tion party on a hill about three-quarters of a mile from Stillman's camp con- tinued over an open prairie for four or five miles, nearly to the temporary resting place of the Sauk warrior and his small band of braves. The Indians attacked with such fury as to drive the scattered soldiers back to camp in a panic obsessed with the dread belief that the bulk of Black Hawk's warriors was bearing down upon them. As it was now quite dark, the panic was intensi- fied among those who remained in camp by the yelling of both Indians and whites, the thunder of horses' hoofs and the continuous shooting of pursuers and pursued. Amid this appalling confusion, every object made uncertain and weird by the shimmering moonlight, Stillman's volunteers dashed their horses into the muddy waters of Old Man's Creek and headed for the swamp on the other side. Many of the horses were mired and as wild with panic as the men. The Indians w T ere close upon them and several of the rangers were killed or wounded in the crossing. As the troops came headlong on, in their retreat to Dixon's Ferry, Captain John G. Adams of Major Bailey's battalion, attempted to make a stand with eight companions upon the brow of the hill which lies about half a mile to the south of the creek, to cover the retreat of the fugitives. It was at this point that most of the fatalities suffered by Stillman's men occurred. The remnant of Black Hawk's triumphant warriors who continued the pursuit met with such heroic resistance and self-sacrifice by Captain Adams and his noble fighters that a wholesale slaughter of the fleeing soldiers was undoubtedly averted. The conflict must have been furious — war, literally, "to the knife." Not one man survived of the white heroes. The morning after Stillman's defeat — the distressing news having been brought to Dixon's Ferry — an American detachment was upon the battlefield collecting the dead and the wounded. As told by one of that party: "We picked up nine dead men as we came up from Dixon's Ferry on a forced march the next morning after Stillman's defeat. The last two that we found were Major Perkins and Captain Adams, with both their heads cut off and their heads skinned all over. We found them on that descent as you go down to the creek from the high land, about half way down, and we buried nine men in one grave about two hundred yards southwest of those willows, just below the ford and on sideling ground, not as far south as the top of the hill ; on the west side of the road leading to Dixon's Ferry." Evi- dently the terrible fate of Captain Adams thus described by Oliver W. Hall, of Carlinville, who was a member of the burial party sent out from Dixon's Ferry was not known to Governor Reynolds when he wrote his history; for he says: "The Indians did not scalp Captain Adams, giving him the honor of a great brave. ' ' The matter-of-fact account given by Black Hawk's scouts was to this effect: "After riding about six miles we met our party returning. We asked them how many of our men had been killed. They said none, after the Americans retreated. We inquired then how many whites had been killed. They replied that they did not know; but said 'we will soon ascertain, as we must scalp them 114 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY as we go back.' On our return we found ten men, besides the two we had killed, before we joined our friends." "The next morning," continues Black Hawk, "I told the crier of my vil- lage to give notice that we must go and bury our dead. In a little while all were ready. A small deputation was sent for our absent warriors and the remainder started. We first disposed of our dead, and then commenced an examination, in the enemy's deserted encampment, for plunder. We found arms, ammunition and provisions, all of which we were in want of — particularly the latter, as we were entirely without. We found, also, a variety of saddle bags (which I distributed among my braves) and a small quantity of whisky; and some little barrels which had contained this bad medicine ; but they were empty ! I was surprised to find that the whites carried whisky with them, as I had understood that all the pale faces belonged to the temperance societies!" Again and again, did Black Hawk repeat his surprise at the retreat of Still- man's men "without showing fight." He insists that the attack on his flag- bearers and scouts forced him into the war, "with about 500 warriors to con- tend against 3,000 or 4,000. This conflict, which undoubtedly heartened Black Hawk and brought many Winnebago to his support, became known as the battle of Stillman's Run, or Stillman's Defeat, and occurred a few miles southwest of the mouth of Sycamore Creek, in the present county of Ogle. Seventy years afterward the State of Illinois dedicated a monument on the hill where Captain Adams made his stand and introduced into the affair the sole redeeming fea- ture of American self-sacrifice and heroism. Major Stillman has given an account of the engagement and glossed it over so as to make it appear a retreat, "commenced and kept up with few exceptions in good order." SOBERING EFFECT ON VOLUNTEERS A busy day for Governor Reynolds followed the Stillman disaster. As remarked by the energetic state executive, "that battle decided the affair to be war." Although the American losses were exaggerated, the volunteers now realized that the campaign might be a long and arduous one and keep them from their homes for some time. There was disaffection both among the officers and the privates, and Governor Reynolds decided that it was not likely that Black Hawk and his allies could be reached with the brigade then organized. Without a requisition from the General Government, on his own responsibility, he issued a call for 2,000 more mounted volunteers to meet at Hennepin, on the Illinois River, in companies of fifty men each on the 10th of the following June. The order recited the killing of a considerable number of Major Stillman's sol- diers as an act of hostility which could not be misconstrued. The Governor was of the opinion that the Pottawatomi and Winnebago had joined the Sauk and that all might be considered as waging war against the United States. This order was written out by candle-light and all ready by daylight for the ex- presses to start with it and other instructions for the various counties. Reynolds appointed John Ewing of Franklin County and John A. Wakefield and Robert Blackwell of Fayette County to distribute the orders. He also empowered Colonel James M. Strode, commander of the Jo Daviess County militia, and who was then at Dixon's Ferry, to organize his county for immediate military THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 115 action. General Dodge, who was encamped on the north side of Rock River, was acquainted with the fact of the Stillraan defeat and returned immediately to defend the Michigan (Wisconsin) frontiers. Major Reddick Horn of Rey- nolds' staff was delegated to carry a dispatch to St. Louis requesting Colonel March, the quartermaster there, to forward the supplies for the new levy of troops to Hennepin. General Atkinson, coming up the river in barges to Dixon, was notified of Stillman's defeat and the pressing need of the army in the field for provisions. Finally Major Parker Adams was directed to procure corn for the horses at Quincy. All these orders were issued by Governor Reynolds and recorded by his staff officers on the 15th of May and all the messengers were off by daylight. The abandonment of the baggage and supplies down the river and the capture of many provisions by Black Hawk's band at Stillman's Run, had brought low the stock of food available for the volunteer army concentrated at Dixon's Ferry. While awaiting the provisions convoyed by General Atkinson the immediate necessities of the volunteers were relieved by Father John Dixon, who slaughtered his oxen, milch cows and young stock, which the troops devoured without bread or salt. After making a hasty breakfast on this very fresh meat, the men were sent to the battlefield to locate the enemy, if possible, and to bury the dead Americans. "When they reached the scene in the eve- ning," says the Governor, "it looked melancholy and appalling to troops who had, for the first time, witnessed such a sight. The bodies of the volunteers who had been killed were mostly cut and mangled in a horrid manner. Many horses also lay dead on the scene of action. All the bodies and parts of bodies that could be found were buried and the army remained on the ground all night. When it was discovered that only eleven white men were killed, there was a general rejoicing that the disaster was no worse. ' ' A reconnoitre by Major Henry's spy battalion brought the information that the Indians had left in great haste, and on the following day the volun- teers marched back to Dixon's Ferry to await the expected provisions. On the 17th of May the two battalions of Stillman and Bailey were consolidated as the Fifth Regiment, and James Johnson of Macon County, formerly a captain in Major Bailey's battalion, was elected its colonel. On the same day, General Atkinson arrived with the welcome provisions. The commanding general or- dered a fort of turf to be erected on the north side of Rock River in which to store the provisions and protect them. With these reenforcements came Captain W. S. Harney and Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, each of whom had been absent on furlough, but who, on the crossing of Black Hawk into Illinois returned to their regiment (the First) at Fort Armstrong, and marched up the river with General Atkinson. REUNITED ARMY UNDER GENERAL ATKINSON IN PURSUIT On the 19th of May, 1832, the whole army of volunteers and regulars under General Atkinson left Dixon's Ferry and commenced the march up Rock River in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band. Governor Reynolds and his staff also accompanied the expedition "to conciliate good feelings in the army and to assist generally in the campaign." In the meantime trouble had arisen in the Vol. 1—8 116 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY lead district over rival candidates for military office. Captain J. W. Stephen- son, who brought the news of Stillman 's defeat to the settlers and miners of that region, had no difficulty in organizing his company of mounted rangers, but Colonel James M. Strode was less fortunate. The latter was a candidate for State Senator, and his opponents in the civil campaign endeavored to block the enlistment of troops and particularly his election to military command. The opposition became so pronounced and disorderly that Colonel Strode sent a party of six to General Atkinson to ask his advice. One of the messengers was killed by the Indians and the party turned back to Galena. But the Gen- eral had anticipated trouble in the district, after having received news of the situation there, and had dispatched Lieutenant Jefferson Davis and a small detachment of the regulars to restore order, if not harmony. The organization of the Twenty-seventh Regiment followed and was placed in command of Colonel Strode to range and protect the northwestern frontier of the state. Captain Stephenson's company was afterward attached to General Dodge's squadron of Michigan troops, its commander being advanced to the rank of major. On the 19th of May, 1832, the combined army of regulars and volunteers moved up Rock River Valley from Dixon's Ferry about twelve miles and there camped for the night. The march was resumed and by dark Stillman 's battle- field was reached, where an express conveyed to General Atkinson the distress- ing and alarming news that a number of families had been murdered during the day at Indian Creek, fifteen miles above Ottawa and ten miles above the mouth of the Fox River. As it became evident that all the hostile Indians were not in the upper Rock River Valley, General Atkinson ordered the volunteers under General Whiteside and Colonel Taylor to continue the pursuit toward the north, while be returned with the regulars to Dixon's Ferry. shabbona's service After Stillman 's defeat, Shabbona, with his son and nephew, made a furious ride down the Fox River Valley to warn the settlers of their danger and urge them to seek the protection of the fort at Ottawa. His nephew carried these messages of warning as far as Rochelle's village, below the Illinois River. Returning home to Shabbona's Grove, by way of the Indian Creek or Davis settlement, he discovered at nightfall of the 19th a large band of Indians enter- ing the timber. He reported this to Shabbona as soon as he reached his uncle's village about midnight. Once more the grand old chief mounted his pony and rode out into the night to spread a warning, especially to the settlers of Bureau and Indian Creek. Some left their homes and again fled to Ottawa. Several families, on the other hand, who had gone to Ottawa for safety at the first alarm had returned and housed themselves in the cabin of William Davis, a powerful blacksmith and miller who had built a dam on the creek and other- wise incurred the hostility of the Pottawatomie chief six miles above. Around the blacksmith shop, mill and cabin of Mr. Davis quite a settlement had grown. Most of the families comprising it had collected at the Davis home and nearly all were butchered by a band of Pottawatomi and several Sauk allies. During the heat of the fight which was desperately contested by the white heads of the families, two of the boys escaped to Ottawa and two of the girls (Hall) were THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 117 taken captive by Pottawatomie braves. The latter were afterward turned over for ransom to a band of Winnebago. The captives were then taken to Blue .Mound Fort, Western Dane County, under the guidance of White Cloud, and protected by Indian squaws, where, on the 3d of June, they were delivered to Colonel Henry Gratiot, the Indian agent. Arrangements were promptly made for the payment of the *2,000 ransom promised by General Atkinson, which the Indians agreed to accept in money, ponies and other valuable articles. CAPTURE AND JOUBNBY OF THE HALL SISTERS This migration of the Hall sisters, as Indian captives, from the scene of the massacre, about the center of La Salle County, in the Illinois Valley, across country to the upper Rock River Valley and thence to the Four Lakes region, was one of the noteworthy events of the war. They were thirteen days on the way. and have given various and conflicting accounts of their itinerary. The girls were first turned over to a Sauk band, and later to the Winnebago under White Crow, and many attempts have been made by writers on the Black Hawk war to trace their route. Perhaps the most systematic and suc- cessful study has been made by Cornelius Buckley, of Beloit, who has attempted to follow their route up the valley, pursued substantially at the same time that the troops of Atkinson and Taylor were following Black Hawk and his people toward the upper waters of the Rock River. The earlier account of the journey was written by Rachel Hall (Munson) in 1844. "She speaks of arriving at the Sauk camp" (where the girls were turned over to the squaws for safe keeping), says Mr. Buckley, "at a point about ninety miles north of the site of the massacre, at about the hour of nine o'clock in the evening of the clay following that event, having, she thinks, ridden ninety miles in twenty-eight hours." The weight of evidence from various other accounts of the massacre and the flight, places this Sauk camp at Black Hawk Grove, a bluff in the southeast part of the present City of Janesville. At the same time, Mr. Buckley throws some doubt on the identity of this Sauk Camp. "As a matter of fact," he says, "no narrator of the movement of the troops under Atkinson and Taylor, who surely passed through what is now the City of Janesville, en route to Koshkonong, has made any mention of this Camp at Janesville. Daily entries were made in journals by at least two persons connected with the service, one of whom wrote a history of the war. Mr. Wakefield's (Major John A. Wakefield) book — long out of print — has been cited with approval by numerous writers who have succeeded him. Albert Sidney Johnston, a lieutenant in the regular service, who thirty years later was killed at the battle of Shiloh, where he commanded the confederate forces, kept a daily journal of occurrences on the march, together with a pretty full topographical account of the country over the entire route from Dixon, Illinois, to the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. This journal, which I be- lieve has never been published, is still in existence in the family of the great soldier, and has frequently been consulted by recent writers. "Wakefield informs us that the army passed through Turtle Village (Beloit) about four o'clock in the afternoon of June 30, 1832, and encamped on the 118 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY prairie a mile from Rock River. Johnston speaks of having encamped with the regulars near the forks of Turtle Creek and Rock River. It may have been the case that the volunteers (with whom was Wakefield) and the regulars, had different camp sites, but near each other. The volunteers encamped north- east of the Fairbanks-Morse plant (Beloit). Union Street very likely crosses the army camp site. ' ' The Turtle Village, we now know, stood on the bluff at the present site of Beloit Junction. Mrs. Kinzie in 'Waubun' mentions this village as the most important Winnebago village south of the Wisconsin River. Upward of twenty- eight years since, I met at Portage, Wisconsin, an aged Winnebago Indian who informed me that he was raised at this village, and continued to live in the vicinity more or less after its abandonment during the Black Hawk war. He knew and inquired after the Blodgetts, Moodys and other early settlers. "Now, the Turtle Village was in a pretty direct line north of the Indian Creek settlement, and at a distance of about sixty-six miles. Shabbona's vil- lage of Pottawatomi was twelve miles north of the settlement. We well know the raiders made no stop at the friendly wigwam of Shabbona. Big Thunder's Pottawatomie village was located on the present site of Belvidere, about fifty- two miles directly north of the settlement of Big Indian Creek. Here (at Belvidere) was a creek, though not a very small one, the north branch of the Kishwaukee. The site, in 1832, judging from present appearances, presented topographical features very similar to Black Hawk Grove at Janesville — a bluff and low swampy land. There can be no reasonable doubt that the captives passed through this village, their captors being principally members of the Pottawatomie tribes. "A direct trail led from this village to the Turtle village, and, while we are without specific information concerning their passage over the Wisconsin line, why should we doubt that the raiders would follow the usual route to the Koshkonong region, where eventually the tribe rendezvoused before their departure for the Wisconsin bluffs and the Mississippi. "The Pottawatomie village of Capas stood near Coltonville, in DeKalb County on the south branch of the Kishwaukee, and had forty lodges im- mediately before the war. This village was visited and sacked by the volun- teers under General Whiteside subsequent to the capture of the Hall girls. Scalps and personal belongings of the massacred families on Indian Creek were found cached in the earth at the village, and as this village was in a pretty direct line north of Indian Creek settlement, it may well be believed that the captors with their victims passed through, or rested at this village. Its site is two and a half miles southwest of Sycamore, 111." Mr. Buckley also mentions the Pottawatomie village known as Black Hawk Springs, eight miles southeast of Rockford, and which was mentioned by Major S. H. Long as having been visited by him in 1823. These different villages were all along Black Hawk's route northward and were probably visited by the Indian captors and their victims. The place where the girls were turned over to White Crow and his Winnebago band is in dispute. Some writers, as stated, fix the locality as Black Hawk Grove, Janesville; others locate the place where the Sauk transferred their captives to the Winnebago as far north as Hustisford, Dodge County. It is known that Dodge with his volunteers THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 119 marched to Bustisford in search of Sauks, and found there a few starving Winnebago. Two days later he discovered the Sauk trail at Jefferson Junction Leading toward the Four Lakes. There are various confused accounts of the captive girls having reached the Wisconsin River, at or near the Winnebago village of Chief Dekora, four miles below Fort Winnebago, now Portage. They reached there by horseback, then were loaded into canoes and taken down the Wisconsin River to the mouth of Black Earth Creek, and thence southerly, by horseback again, to Blue Mound Port. Then again, this route to Western Dane County via Fort Winnebago is open to objection, as the Indians could have delivered the girls at Fort Winne- bago and claimed their reward as well as to swing them around the circle to Blue Mound Fort, On the 29th of May, a message had arrived at Blue Mound Fort from General Atkinson at Dixon offering the reward for the delivery of the girls unharmed to the whites. Eduard Bouchard, an officer at the fort, at once visited a camp of Winnebago at the east of Blue Mound, stated to them the contents of the letter, and prevailed on White Cloud, Whirling Thunder and Spotted Arm to seek the girls at the Sauk camp, demand their release and to enforce their demand by violence, if necessary. On the afternoon of the third day following the departure of the chiefs, the girls were delivered to Bouchard and others a few miles east of Blue Mound Fort. Exactly where they were delivered to the Winnebago is not known. "As a sequel to this tale," concludes Mr. Buckley, "I may add that our subjects married within a year following their delivery to their friends; that they lived long, very long, and died happy, leaving numerous descendants. A granddaughter married James H. Eckels, former controller of the currency; and another married that erratic Chicago jurist, of whom we hear so much these days, and who seems to be pretty generally admired by the public — excepting the lawyers and the thieves — Kenesaw Mountain Landis." MURDER OF ST. VRAIN It was not long before the entire country along the Illinois, Fox, Dupage and Desplaines rivers was overrun by murderous bands of Indians, having usually Sauk leaders, the scene of these scattered atrocities having shifted south and north of the Rock River Valley. Among the most fiendish of these was the killing of Felix St. Vrain, the Indian agent of the Sauk and Foxes at Fort Armstrong, who started on May 23d, to guide a party of cattle buyers from Dixon's Ferry to Galena and from that point to carry dispatches for General Atkinson down the river to the fort and the agency. St. Vrain had found such favor with the nation that one of its chiefs, the Little Bear, had adopted him as a brother. The party therefore considered it propitious that it should meet on the way a band of Sauk under the Little Bear ; but St. Vrain and three of his companions were shot down by the Indians in cold blood and all of them scalped. Little Bear and his band singled out their agent for special mutilations. His head, hands and feet were cut off and his heart taken from his breast and eaten by the Sauk braves, that they might boast of having devoured the heart of one of the bravest of Americans. 120 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY These murders and massacres were committed at such scattered localities and by such comparatively small bands of Indians that the military leaders were still of the opinion that the most effective course to quell the uprising was to follow Black Hawk and crush him. The army therefore continued its advance up Rock River Valley and after several days' march from Dixon's Ferry reached a large Pottawatomie village on Sycamore Creek. It was de- serted, but the soldiers found not only some of the articles which Black Hawk's warriors had taken at Stillman 's Run, but some of the scalps lifted at the Indian Creek massacre. Black Hawk and his braves were still dancing, elusive shadows, and after a conference at the Pottawatomie village between Governor Reynolds, Colonel Taylor and Major Harney of the regular army, and many of the volun- teer officers, it was decided to disband the home army at Ottawa. On the return march along Sycamore Creek, says Stevens, "an old Pot- tawatomie Indian came into camp, tired and hungry. His age should have commanded respect and probably would under circumstances at all different, but in that instance the first chance to kill a supposed enemy was presented and his death was demanded. The poor old Indian produced from his gar- ments a safe conduct signed by General Lewis Cass, pleading protection under it. 'Make an example of him,' cried one. 'The letter is a forgery,' cried others, and still others called him a spy. The poor old fellow was in danger of death, when Captain Lincoln, his face swarthy with resolution and rage, stepped forward between the cowering Indian and the guns pointed at him, and shouted, ' This must not be ; he must not be shot and killed by us ' ; and the men re- coiled. 'This is cowardly on your part, Lincoln,' one man said. To which Captain Lincoln instantly replied, 'If any man thinks that I am a coward, let him test it.' Still defiant, another cried, 'Lincoln, you are larger and heavier than we are'; but that miserable objection was quickly disposed of by the re- joinder of the Captain, 'This you can guard against; choose your weapons.' It is needless to add that no one chose a weapon and that the Indian departed in safety." MUSTER-OUT OF VOLUNTEERS The entire army was discharged at Ottawa on May 27th and 28th, Captain Lincoln being mustered out on the former day. Lieutenant Robert Anderson performed that task. The dispersal of the volunteers left the frontiers and the settlements of Illinois virtually unprotected and on the 28th General Atkin- son, accompanied only by his staff, crossed the country from Dixon to Ottawa to confer with Governor Reynolds over the untoward situation. Not only had the Indians received no check, but had on the face of the matter outwitted and outfought the whites with all their superiority of numbers. Under these alarming circumstances, General Atkinson and Governor Rey- nolds appealed to the patriotism of the disbanded troops to organize one regi- ment for twenty days to protect the frontiers and await the assembling of the new army of volunteers on the 15th of June. This was readily accom- plished and 300 men of the disbanded rangers were organized into a regiment of six companies in command of Colonel Jacob Fry, with James D. Henry as Lieutenant Colonel and John Thomas as Major. Among those who enlisted THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 121 as privates in this regiment were Brigadier General Whiteside and Captain Abraham Lincoln. AMBUSH AT KELLOGG'S GBOVB A part of the company of Captain Adam W. Snyder was ordered to make a stand at Kellogg 's Grove and scour the country for Indians. This locality is in what is now Kent Township, Stephenson County, seven or eight miles from Lena. It is about thirty-five miles southeast of Galena and thirty-seven miles nori Invest of Dixon and Captain Snyder's company was designed to be placed where it could maintain communication between these two important points concerned with the security of northern Illinois. In Captain Snyder's company as privates were Joseph Gillespie, Pierre Menard, Richard Roman, •lames Semple, General Samuel Whiteside and John Thomas. Although the last named had just been elected major of the regiment, he preferred action in the held to official position and therefore marched in the ranks toward Kellogg 's Grove. On the morning of the 16th of June, a detachment of Cap- tain Snyder's company came in touch with a band of Indians and in the en- gagement which followed one of his men was mortally wounded. While General Whiteside and others were endeavoring to bring water to the dying man they were ambushed by a large party of Indians, which brought ou an engage- ment with the other troops. As the detachment was far outnumbered by the Indians, it retreated to the main body. The dead bodies of the three men slain in the ambuscade were buried at Kellogg 's Grove, and when the main army of the new volunteers arrived on the frontiers, Colonel Taylor mustered out the entire regiment of twenty days' men at Dixon's Ferry (on June 21st). NEW VOLUNTEER ARMY OF THREE THOUSAND As arranged, the volunteers of the new army rendezvoused on the south side of the Illinois River at Fort Wilbourn, about a mile above Peru and at the foot of the Illinois rapids. It was the head of steamboat navigation and there the supplies for the new adventure against Black Hawk had been de- posited; in fact, it was then called Fort Deposit. There, according to guberna- torial orders the volunteers gathered from all parts of the State to the number of more than three thousand. Numerous citizens also appeared, many of them anxious to participate in the campaign which meant civil and political ad- vancement for those who acquitted themselves well as soldiers. On this 15th of June, as this picturesque assemblage gathered to be organized for military service both sides of the river were covered with men and horses. Fort John- ston, believed to have been named after Albert Sidney Johnston, was Atkin- son's headquarters. It was located opposite the mouth of Fox River, twenty miles from Fort Wilbourn, or Fort Deposit. While the volunteer army at Fort Wilbonrn was in process of organization, Shabbona, Billy Caldwell and Waubansee, all influential and friendly Pottawatomi, came to the camp of the regulars at Fort Johnston and offered Atkinson one hundred of their men. They were to be commanded by Shabbona, who then communicated to the commander-in-chief the location of Black Hawk at the head of Rock River. 122 THE EOCK RIVER VALLEY As truly remarked by Governor Reynolds : "It was extremely difficult and required both patience and judgment to organize this great mass of peo- ple into an army without causing some dissatisfaction, and at the same time to make it efficient. The war had attracted attention and many of the most prominent men in the State appeared on the frontier and wanted office." After organizing the army into three brigades, on consultation with the captains of the companies, the commanding generals were elected by the troops. During the three days following, Alexander Posey was elected to command the First Brigade of 1,001 men; Milton K. Alexander, the Second, with 959, and James D. Henry, the Third, numbering 1,232. Thus organized the brigades (each of which had a spy battalion) were received into the service of the United States in command of General Atkinson who was present at the time. Thomas C. Brown, one of the Gallatin County volunteers, was appointed one of General Atkinson's aides. He was then one of the judges of the State Supreme Court and the selection was made, at the request of Governor Rey- nolds, "to establish a friendly feeling between the regular officers and those of the volunteers." T. W. Smith, another judge of the Supreme Court, was appointed Adjutant General by the Governor. While General Atkinson was organizing another expedition to sweep up the Rock River Valley to its head in search of Black Hawk, General Dodge and his forces were skilfully guarding the northwestern frontier and the lead district of both Illinois and Michigan. Organizing and dispatching various bands of rangers to threatened points in his state, Governor Reynolds sought to erect fortifications and protect the frontiers along the Illinois River from the Mississippi to Chicago. DISTURBANCES IN LEAD DISTRICT For some time before the gathering of the Illinois clans at Fort Deposit, the lead district was the center of the most active and serious disturbances brought on by Black Hawk and his bands. After visiting Atkinson at Fort Johnston, Dodge returned to his headquarters at Fort Union, near the present city of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and prepared to carry out his part of the cam- paign. No sooner had he and his men reached Fort Defiance in the vicinity of the Mineral Point of today and a few miles southwest of Dodgeville, than a messenger brought tidings of the murder of five settlers at a farm on the Pecatonica, six miles southeast of Fort Hamilton. On June 16th, Dodge was on the ground and sent a detachment of men after the Indian murderers. He crossed the Pecatonica River and attacked the Indians behind a natural breastwork formed by the bank of a small lake. Their entire party of seven- teen was wiped out of existence. This engagement was known as the Battle of the Pecatonica and was fought on June 16th in territory which was over the present state line in Wisconsin. BLACK HAWK REPULSED FROM APPLE RIVER FORT Black Hawk's warriors, in scattered bands, from the first until after the middle of June ranged the country, stealing horses and other livestock and THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 123 murdering settlers, from the head of the Four Lakes to Galena. The Apple River valley became an especially favorite district for their depredations. On the morning of the 18th, Captain J. W. Stephenson, who was under the direct command of Colonel James M. Strode operating with General Dodge, started on the trail of a band of Sauk horse thieves and overtook them about twelve miles east of Kellogg 's Grove, in the county which has been given his name. In dislodging them from a dense thicket three of his men were killed and he himself so badly wounded that he was not able to lead his men. Six days after this affair, Colonel Strode sent an express of three men to General Atkinson, then at Dixon's Ferry. At about noon (June 24th) the messengers arrived at Apple River Fort some fourteen miles southeast of Galena. Captain Clack Stone, the commandant, had a garrison of only fifteen or twenty men, the remainder of his force being absent on detached duty. When the express arrived, the women of the post were either starting out to pick berries or scattered along the river banks thus busily engaged. The express was soon again in motion, but had gone east only about 300 yards when the men were attacked by a large party of Indians concealed in the tall grass beside the trail which they were taking. One of the men was shot through the thigh and fell from his horse, but was dragged to the fort and safely placed behind its heavy doors, while his rescuer was shut out and barely escaped the Indians by slinking to Galena behind the high banks of Apple River. The noise of the shooting also warned the berry pickers who reached the shelter of the fort. The band of 200 Indians under Black Hawk's leadership then commenced the fiercest assault of the war upon Apple River Fort, surrounding it and directing against it a terrible fire. Providentially, a wagonload of meat and lead from Galena had been unloaded that very forenoon, which put the gar- rison in a fair condition to sustain a siege. Stevens, in his account of the attack and sequel, says: "For two hours a heavy fire was maintained by both sides. Under its first fire, the garrison showed fear of the result against such tremendous odds, but instantly Mrs. Elizabeth Armstrong, in a com- manding address, inspired man and woman alike with such resolution that nothing could have driven them from their posts. She divided the women into two squads, one to mold the bullets, the other to reload the muskets as they were discharged. Unfortunately, no one had been allowed to bring in a supply of water with which to quench thirst during the weary hours of that engagement. The day was hot. Confinement in close quarters of the fort, amidst the fumes of gunpowder and the heat of firing, brought on a state of suffering bordering upon exhaustion, but the almost fainting women, by their heroic disregard for danger and suffering and by their words of cheer propped the failing energies of the fighting men. Every advance by the enemy was met with a galling fire from within and the assailants were repulsed, only to resume the assault more fiercely than before and again retire with heavy loss. "Finding it useless to attempt a capitulation by assault, the Indians retired to the surrounding log houses, where, knocking the chinks from between the logs they opened a deadly fire which could not be returned with loss to them- selves; but this failed to dislodge the whites and, enraged at their failure, the Indians sought partial revenge by plundering the houses. They destroyed the furniture and crockery, emptied flour barrels and feather beds, stole the 124 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY bed clothing and wardrobe and then killed the cattle and hogs, finishing their clay of destruction by stealing all the horses in sight." A boy, who was of the party which Colonel Strode had sent out with dis- patches for General Atkinson, insisted on stealing from the fort at night, with Indians lurking everywhere, that he might acquaint the commander at Galena with the plight of the defenders of Apple River Port. He reached the regi- mental headquarters as Colonel Strode was starting from Galena to the relief of the fort, after having been notified of its danger by the messenger who had escaped at the commencement of the assault. When the reenforcements arrived, Black Hawk and his warriors had retreated. In the meantime the spy battalion of General Posey's brigade had been ordered by Colonel Zachary Taylor to Kellogg 's Grove. It was in command of Major John Dement and on his staff was Zadoc Casey, Lieutenant Governor. On the second night after the arrival of the battalion, word was brought from the lead mines that a trail of two or three hundred Indians had been seen in the neighborhood of the Grove passing to the southwest. As that was the day of the assault upon the Apple River Fort, it is the general belief that the war party which was to make trouble for Major Dement and his men was the one led by Black Hawk, which subsequently withdrew to the marshes of the Koshkonong and the other headwaters of the Rock River. DEMENT 'S SPY BATTALION SURPRISED BY THE SAUK Major Dement had about 150 men under him, most of whom were Ten- nesseeans and fighters by tradition and nature. On the night of the 24th of June it was decided by a council of officers that the Major and fifty picked men of his battalion should start out on the following morning to reconnoiter the trail and the country. The remainder should keep to the fort — an oblong three-room log house, strongly built and with a good well of water in the in- closed yard. Several stables and other buildings stood near the main house. According to the plan devised the night before, on the morning of the 25th an advance party of half a dozen rangers pushed ahead of the detachment and soon reported to Major Dement and "Governor" Casey that Indians had been seen on the prairie. The officers of the battalion tried to hold the men back from the pursuit, but the retreating Indians skilfully drew most of the soldiers into a ravine filled with brush and bushes. Black Hawk and his warriors to the number of two or three hundred suddenly emerged from their ambush, naked and raising their fearful war whoops. The surprise was complete and Major Dement and his men retreated to the fort. A small detachment was cut off by the overwhelming reds and wiped out, and when the remainder of the scouting party dismounted and entered the fort nearly fifty horses were shot dead in the yard. The horse of Governor Casey was wounded in the head before the rider dismounted at the fort. The Indians were so furious in the attack and rushed so near the fort that not a few of them were killed. The savages, who far outnumbered the defenders, shot into the house through the crevices and wounded several men, but killed none. In this series of furious attacks seven of the savages were killed. Three different bullets touched the person of Major Dement, but none injured him. One ball passed through his THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 125 hat and cut the hair on the top of his head. When the fire from the savages had subsided, the commander of the besieged whites sent for relief to Dixon, more than fifty miles away. Wet blankets had been placed on top of the little fort to guard against fire, but the night passed without a renewal of the at- tack, and at eight o'clock the next morning the express was dispatched for relief to Dixon. Toward sundown of the same day General Alexander Posey's brigade reached the fort and the Indians departed after singing war songs over the dead bodies of the five men they had killed and mangling them in the customary style. The soldiers of the American relief command found a horrid state of affairs. The fifty horses which had been shot by the Indians with poisoned arrows were lying in the outer yard swollen beyond belief. Near the distorted animals were a number of dead Indians, and about a quarter of a mile from the fort were the mangled bodies of the five men who had been cut off from escape. Early in the morning after the arrival of Posey's brigade, a large grave was dug with tomahawks and knives and the remains of the victims there interred. After burying the dead in this hasty manner, General Posey started in pursuit of the Indians, but soon found that they had divided into many bands and could not be followed as a body. That, in fact, seemed to be the policy of Black Hawk, and it became the aim of the American forces to meet the elusive enemy in some considerable body or bodies. General Atkinson had ordered General Alexander with his brigade to march to the region between Dixon, Galena and the Mississippi to guard the frontiers and prevent the straggling Indians of the west from joining Black Hawk. The headquarters of General Posey's brigade was Fort Hamilton. General Atkinson commanded in person the brigade under General Henry and the regulars. The last-named force was at Dixon, waiting for military stores, when the messengers from Major Dement at Kellogg 's Grove reached the commander- in-chief. ARMY RESUMES ADVANCE UP ROCK RIVER VALLEY The little army in command of Generals Atkinson and Henry, with Gov- ernor Reynolds and staff, moved up Rock River from Dixon and on the 4th of July had reached Lake Koshkonong, an enlargement of Rock River and one of its reservoirs. For a week, attempts were made to locate the hostile Indians, whose whereabouts were protected by their allies, the Winnebago, and then the army was obliged to scatter, in order to collect lost horses and obtain provisions for a short campaign. It was at this point that Governor Reynolds, with his staff, left the army for his home, by way of Galena. In the meantime, the other two brigades had joined the army of pursuit. After supplies had been collected at Fort Winnebago, General Posey's brigade was headed for Dixon and the lead region. At Fort Winnebago evidence Avas ob- tained of the actual location of Black Hawk's camp through Pierre Poquette, a half breed scout and trader in the employ of the American Fur Company. From this point, Alexander's command returned to General Atkinson's head- quarters at the temporary fort on Bark River above Lake Koshkonong, the headwaters of the Rock River. Under the guidance of Poquette and twelve 126 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY friendly Winnebago, led by the White Pawnee, General Henry's command which had been reduced to 600 men and Colonel Dodge's, to 120, on July 15th took up their march toward the sources of the Rock River. Theirs was an inde- pendent expedition, as the decision of an officers' council was that if the move- ment should await formal orders from General Atkinson, Black Hawk would escape. There was some opposition to this "violation of orders," but the strong will of Henry prevailed, although Atkinson, as his commander-in-chief, was kept advised of all the movements of the pursuing column. BLACK HAWK PURSUED BY HENRY AND DODGE For six days and nights the men led by Henry and Dodge followed the trail of Black Hawk and his warriors, women and children, as it left the Rock River, wound toward the Four Lakes and then headed for the Wisconsin and the Mississippi. Enemy Indians gave them the wrong directions, but like bloodhounds they returned to the scent of Black Hawk and his fleeing nation. On the 19th of July, early in the morning, the trail became so fresh that the Americans left behind all heavy camp equipage in order to make speedy and forced marches. The army of whites marched nearly fifty miles that day, fording streams and crossing swamps. Toward evening a terrific thunderstorm arose and, with torrents of rain, continued all night, and as the soldiers were without tents or blankets — well, their sufferings were a part of army life and especially of Indian campaigning. Toward sunset of the 20th, the army reached the first of the four lakes, overlooking what is now the beautiful capital of Wisconsin. General Dodge was in the advance, and was assigned the honor of bringing on the expected battle with Black Hawk's braves. Taking the advice of their Indian guides that it would be foolhardy to attempt to follow Black Hawk's difficult trail at night, the whites rested on their arms until the morning of the 21st. The route by which they approached the fleeing Indians is thus described in Smith's History of Wisconsin: "The detachment crossed the Crawfish River near Artalan and followed the trail, which bore to the west of Keyes Lake (Rock Lake). It was still followed westward until the ground between the Third and Fourth lakes was reached, now the site of Madi- son; thence it was followed around the southern end of the Fourth Lake, where it appeared that an admirable position for a battleground, with natural defenses and places of ambush, had been chosen by the enemy, and here they apparently had lain the previous night." THE BATTLE OP WISCONSIN HEIGHTS By daylight of the 21st of July the entire army was hot on the Indian trail, trinkets and other more substantial property of the red men and women being strewn along the way. Sometimes a horse of the enemy fell dead with exhaus- tion, or had been killed and partly devoured by the famished Indians. On this forced march of the 21st about forty horses of the Americans gave out and were left behind. About three o'clock in the afternoon the spies reported that the Indians were reaching the bluffs of the Wisconsin River and might make a safe retreat over it. The locality was about twenty-five miles north- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 127 west of Madison, and the "Battle of the Wisconsin Heights" which followed the contact of the advance of Henry's command with the rear guard of Black Hawk's men broke the confidence and power of the Sauk leader. It has been told many times, the best contemporaneous accounts being from the pens of Reynolds and Ford. The former was closely identified with the Black Hawk war ii]) to the time that General Henry took the campaign into his own hands and with the able assistance of Colonel Dodge defeated the chief Sauk war- rior at the "Battle of the Wisconsin Heights." A good condensation of the various accounts of the engagement is that published by Frank E. Stevens in his history of the war. It reads: "About 3 o'clock (July 21) the com- pany of Captain Joseph Dickson's spies reported the enemy reaching the bluffs of the Wisconsin River, which reanimated the troops with, unusual vigor to increase their speed and, if passible, overtake the enemy before he crossed the river. Twice Henry pressed them and twice the Indians gave way, but the third time Dickson's scouts or spies drove them to the main body, which had reached a body of timber sufficiently dense to offer protection and here the whole force of Indians made a stand. Dismounting, every tenth man was detailed to hold horses, excepting the regiment of Colonel Fry, which was made the reserve and held to prevent the enemy from turning the flanks of the whites. "The Indians opened fire as the advance guard of the whites was passing a stretch of uneven ground through the high grass and low brush. Major E wing's battalion was at once formed in front, where the Indians poured their fire into it from behind trees. In a few moments Henry arrived with the main army and formed the order of battle, Colonel Jones being placed to the right, Colonel Collins to the left, Fry in reserve and Ewing in front, with Dodge on the extreme right. In this order Henry ordered the forces to move. The order to charge the enemy was splendidly executed by Ewing, Jones and Collins, routing the Indians, who retreated to the right and concentrated be- fore Dodge's Battalion with the obvious intention of turning his flank. Henry sent Major McConnel to Dodge ordering him to charge the enemy, but this Dodge preferred to delay until he received a reenforcement ; whereupon Henry sent Colonel Fry to his aid, and together they charged into the brush and high grass, receiving the fire of the whole body of the enemy. "Advancing and returning this fire, Dodge and Fry pursued the Indians with bayonets, driving them out with loss. Retreating rapidly, the enemy fell back to the west and took up a new and stronger position in the thick timber and tall grass at the head of a hollow leading to the Wisconsin River bottom. A determined stand was made, but Ewing, Jones and Collins dashed upon them and drove them in scattered squads down into the Wisconsin bottoms covered with a swale so high that pursuit in the gathering darkness was im- possible, and Henry, withdrawing his forces, lay all night on the field. "During the night a sonorous voice was heard from a neighboring hill, supposedly giving orders to the enemy, but as nothing came of it no commo- tion or preparation to renew the fight followed. It proved to have been Neapope suing for peace in the tongue of the Winnebagoes, supposing that the guides and interpreter present from that nation would understand and secure a parley, but as the Winnebagoes had fled in the beginning of the action his words were wasted. Had he been understood, no doubt can exist but Henry would 128 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY have closed the war then and there, for Black Hawk now realized that he was no longer fighting Stillman's command." The following morning, when Henry advanced to the Wisconsin, he found that Black Hawk and his following had retreated across the river to the hills beyond. At the battle of Wisconsin Heights, the Sauk leader first met signal defeat. His power and his spirit were there broken and stern fate in the person of Henry was close on his tracks. The loss of the Indians was sixty-eight killed and many more wounded while the fatalities to Henry's force was but one man, with eight wounded. The circumstances leading up to the battle, and the engagement itself, are told in the "Life of Black Hawk," ostensibly by the warrior himself, as fol- lows: "During our encampment at the Four Lakes we were hard put to obtain enough to eat to support nature. Situated in a swampy, marshy coun- try (which had been selected in consequence of the great difficulty required to gain access thereto), there was but little game of any sort to be found — and fish were equally scarce. The great distance to any settlement and the impossibility of bringing supplies therefrom, if any could have been obtained, deterred our young men from making further attempts. We were forced to dig roots and bark trees to obtain something to satisfy hunger and keep us alive. And, finding that the army had commenced moving and fearing that they might come upon and surround our encampment, I concluded to remove my women and children across the Mississippi that they might return to the Sac nation. Accordingly we commenced moving, with five Winnebagoes act- ing as our guides, intending to descend the Ouisconsin. "Neapope, with a party of twenty, remained in our rear to watch for the enemy, whilst we were proceeding to the Ouisconsin with our women and chil- dren. We arrived and had commenced crossing them to an island, when we discovered a large body of the enemy coming towards us. We were now com- pelled to fight or sacrifice our wives and children to the fury of the whites. I met them with fifty warriors (having left the balance to assist our women and children in crossing) about a mile from the river when an attack im- mediately commenced. I was mounted on a fine horse and was pleased to see my warriors so brave. I addressed them in a loud voice, telling them to stand their ground and never yield it to the enemy. At this time I was on the rise of a hill, where I wished to form my warriors that we might have some ad- vantage over the whites. But the enemy succeeded in gaining this point, which compelled us to fall back into a deep ravine, from which we continued to fire at them and they at us until it grew dark. My horse having been wounded twice during this engagement, I feared from his loss of blood that he would soon give out. Finding that the enemy would not come near enough to re- ceive our fire in the dusk of the evening, and knowing that our women and children had had sufficient time to reach the island in the Ouisconsin, I ordered my warriors to return in different routes and meet me at the Ouisconsin. "In this skirmish, with fifty braves, I defended and accomplished my pas- sage over the Ouisconsin with a loss of only six men, though opposed by a host of mounted militia. I would not have fought there, but to gain time for my women and children to cross to the island. A warrior will duly appreciate the embarrassment I labored under, and whatever may be the sentiments of THE ROCK RIVEK VALLEY 129 the white people in relation to this battle my nation, though fallen, will award to me the reputation of a great brave in conducting it." After a conference with his warriors, Black Hawk and his braves rejoined their women and children on the island. "Here," he continues, "some of my people left me and descended the Ouisconsin, hoping to escape to the west side of the Mississippi that they might return home. I had no objection to their leaving me, as my people were all in a desperate condition, being worn out with traveling and starving with hunger. Our only hope to save our- selves was to get across the Mississippi. But few of this party escaped. Un- fortunately for them a party of soldiers from Prairie du Chien was stationed on the Ouisconsin a short distance from its mouth, who fired upon our distressed people. Some were killed, others drowned, and several were taken prisoners; the balance escaped to the woods and perished with hunger. Among this party were a great many women and children." General Henrj^'s force having discovered that Black Hawk and the bulk of his warriors were headed for the Mississippi, two days after the battle started to meet General Atkinson, with the regulars and the brigades of Posey and Alexander. A complete juncture of the regulars and the volunteers was effected at Helena, a deserted village on the Wisconsin. By using the logs of the deserted cabins for rafts, the reunited army crossed the river on the 27th and 28th of July and the pursuit of Black Hawk's fugitive band was renewed. Evidences of their famished condition were found in the trees stripped of bark for food, the carcasses of dead ponies and, here and there along the trail, the gaunt dead body of an Indian. But the first contact between the fleeing Sauk after the Battle of Wis- consin Heights with the pursuing army again under General Atkinson was not to be by land and in line with any settled plan of the campaign. The attitude of the commander-in-chief toward General Henry, whose insubordination had resulted in Black Hawk's only decisive defeat, was evinced in the disposition of Henry's men who were at first assigned to the rear of the marching column to guard the baggage. SAUK WARRIORS, WOMEN AND CHILDREN CROSS THE WISCONSIN On the 1st of August, when it became evident from signs along the trail that the Sauk could not be far distant, Black Hawk led his depleted and famished band toward the mouth of the Bad Axe River, a small stream which flows into the Mississippi nearly opposite the northern boundary of Iowa. About two miles below the mouth, the Indian leader and his men, women and children, were preparing to cross the Mississippi in two or three canoes when the steamer "Warrior" came down the river. It had aboard about a score of regulars and was returning from Wabasha's village (Winona), 120 miles above, to inform the Sioux chief that their enemies, the Sauk, were approach- ing the Mississippi River. MASSACRE NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE BAD AXE On the way down Captain Throckmorton had been informed by a Sioux that Black Hawk and his band were on the Bad Axe River, and about four 130 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY o'clock on the afternoon of August 1st the Indians were seen making prepara- tions to cross the Mississippi. As the "Warrior" neared them, Black Hawk, who was an acquaintance of the captain, waved a small piece of white cotton on a pole as a token of peace and surrender. One of his warriors leaped into the river and also started to bear a white flag toward the steamboat. As the ''Warrior" drew nearer, Black Hawk attempted to communicate with a Win- nebago who was aboard to the effect that the Sauk wished to give themselves up. Black Hawk insists that all these peaceful overtures were made in good faith, but Captain Throckmorton in his account of the incident states that the Indians thereby "endeavored to decoy us; but we were a little too old for them; for, instead of landing, we ordered them to send a boat aboard, which they declined. After about fifteen minutes delay, giving them time to remove a few of their women and children, we let slip a six pounder loaded with cannister, followed by a severe fire of musketry; and if ever you saw straight blankets you would have seen them there. I fought them at anchor most of the time and we were all very much exposed. I have a ball which came in close by where I was standing and passed through the bulkhead of the wheel- room. We fought them for about an hour or more, until our wood began to fail and, night coming on, we left and went on to the Prairie" (Prairie du Chien). During the night of August 1st, a few of the Indians crossed the Missis- sippi, but Black Hawk, the Prophet, ten warriors and thirty-five squaws and children fled toward the Dells of the Wisconsin. The bulk of the Sauk forces was left behind to cross the Mississippi as best they could. On the morning of the 2nd, General Atkinson reached a position within five miles of the Sauk retreat. His army comprised 400 regulars under Colonel Taylor and por- tions of the brigades of Henry, Posey and Alexander, numbering some 900 men. The commander stationed the regulars and Colonel Dodge's rangers in the center, the brigades of Alexander and Posey on the right and Henry's command on the left. It seems that Atkinson, Taylor's regulars and all but Henry's men, were drawn up the river by Indian decoys and bands, so as to detract attention from the crossing place of the main body of the Sauk. Gen- eral Henry, who had been ordered to protect the rear of the army which was unintentionally pursuing the comparatively small band led by Black Hawk, ascertained that the main trail of the Indians was across the bottom lands a short distance below the mouth of the Bad Axe River. The star general of the Black Hawk war soon found himself confronted with a fighting band of 300 savages, a force nearly equal to his own. Then and there was fought the only engagement worthy to be called a. battle; and Henry's men again won it. Atkinson and the remainder of his army returned to the battleground, the Steamer "Warrior" arrived from Prairie du Chien and the Indian warriors, with their women and children, were driven across a slough of the river to an island. Some were killed by fire, others were drowned, and many who sur- vived the massacre died soon after of hunger, exhaustion and wounds. A few women and children were taken prisoners. During the three hours of this awful carnage, not exceeded in cruel relentlessness by any savage butchery of this or any other war, it is estimated that 150 Indians were killed by fire from the troops, and an equal number of both sexes and all ages drowned THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 131 while attempting to cross the river or being driven into it. About 300 Indians, mostly non-combatants, succeeded in crossing the river in a pitiable condition, and nearly one-half exterminated by Wabasha, the Sioux chief. Still others perished while endeavoring to reach Keokuk's reservation on the Iowa side of the river. It is said that of the one thousand who crossed to the east side of the .Mississippi in April, 1832, not more than 150 survived the tragic events of the succeeding four months. At the battle of the Bad Axe seventeen Amer- icans were killed and twelve wounded. GENERAL HENRY, THE HERO OF THE WAR General Henry, whose independent movements during the final phases of the Black Hawk war, incurred the displeasure of General Atkinson and the "regulars," was the popular hero of the campaign which crushed Black Hawk and his Indian nation, or rather the fragment of it which the Sauk warrior so recklessly led into forbidden territory. It is thought that the exposures of the campaign brought on disease of the lungs, from which he died at New Orleans, March 4, 1834. BLACK HAWK'S CRUSHING DEFEAT Black Hawk himself did not long survive his crushing defeat and the virtual obliteration of the Sauk war party which he led. Soon after fleeing to the Dells of the Wisconsin, both he and the Prophet surrendered themselves to the Winnebago, by whom they were delivered to Colonel Zachary Taylor, who was then in command at Fort Crawford. The formal steps which terminated the military operations of the Black Hawk war and placed its instigators in the keeping of the United States authorities are thus told nearly forty years afterward by Robert Anderson, then of Civil War fame : ' ' The Battle of Bad Axe having virtually ended the war, the troops were moved back to Dixon's Ferry and Rock Island, at which place I mustered them out of the service. General Scott was sent out to supersede General Atkinson and take command of the expedition, but he did not reach the theater of operations before the close of the war. He got down as far as Galena and from there he went to Fort Armstrong, where he established his headquarters. From Dixon's Ferry I was sent by General Atkinson with dispatches for General Scott at Rock Island and to report to him for duty. He at once assigned me to duty, plac- ing me in charge of the Indian prisoners. * * * General Scott having received information from Colonel Taylor of the capture of Black Hawk and a few of his chiefs detailed me with a guard to go to Fort Crawford for them and to bring them to Fort Armstrong. We took for that purpose the steam- boat "Warrior," and Captain Throckmorton. We left Rock Island early in the day and before night there were indications of cholera among the soldiers on board the boat. There was no surgeon aboard and I did the best I could for them. When we arrived at the mouth of Fever River I had the boat tied up and took a skiff and Avent up to Galena in search of a doctor. I there found Dr. Addison Phileo, who had been with us in the campaign, and he cheerfully returned with me to the boat and took charge of my sick. We then Vol. 1—9 132 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY continued our trip to Fort Crawford, where I delivered my orders to Colonel Taylor. By this time I had the cholera myself and was scarcely fit for duty. Colonel Taylor therefore assigned to me for my assistance in returning with the Indians to Fort Armstrong, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis. We took with us Black Hawk, his two sons, the Prophet and some other chiefs. On reach- ing Fort Armstrong the cholera was raging so violently in camp that General Scott ordered the steamer to go immediately to Jefferson Barracks. I then turned my prisoners over to General Atkinson, who had resumed command of the post." TREATIES GROWING OUT OF THE WAR The war ended, Governor Reynolds and General Scott made arrangements to hold treaties at Rock Island and secure pledges of friendship and land cessions from the Winnebago and the Sauk and Foxes. While these matters were in process of adjustment the cholera appeared in virulent form in the Rock Island region. While the disease raged at Fort Armstrong and among the Indians of the locality, the General and the Governor were obliged to dis- perse the Indians, while General Scott camped his army of some 1,500 men around and on Rock Island some distance from the fort. After waiting more than a month for the cholera to subside, two treaties were concluded. That of September 15, 1832, disposed of all the lands claimed by the Winne- bago in Illinois and the area south of the Wisconsin River and west of Green Bay. The consideration comprised a large reservation in the West, an annuity of $10,000 for seven years and a free school for all their children for twenty years, as well as blacksmith shops, agricultural implements with half a dozen agriculturists to instruct them in their use, and medical care and tobacco rations on their journey to the western reservation. While this treaty was pending, the remnants of the band of Black Hawk arrived at Rock Island, destitute, hungry and abjectly miserable. Governor Reynolds expresses himself as much gratified with the sympathy displayed by General Scott for such suffering, and both exerted themselves to relieve their wants. On the 21st of September a treaty was made with the Sauk and Fox Indians by which they ceded to the United States the country which a few years after- ward became the State of Iowa. In consideration of this cession the Govern- ment, through its commissioners, General Scott and Governor Reynolds, agreed upon an annuity of $20,000 for thirty years, with additional shops and tools; also forty kegs of tobacco and forty barrels of salt for the same period. The United States was to pay Farnham and Davenport, the Indian traders at Rock Island, $40,000, without interest, for goods furnished said tribes up to July 10, 1831, and to grant two sections of land — one opposite Rock Island and the other at the head of the first rapids above — to Antoine LeClaire, interpreter and "part Indian." Black Hawk and his two sons; the Prophet, his brother and two sons, and four chiefs, were to be held as hostages for the future good conduct of the late hostile bands. It was stipulated that there never should be allowed "in the confederate Sac and Fox nation any separate band or village under any chief or warrior of the late hostile bands; but that the THE HOCK RIVEB VAliLEY 133 remnant of the said hostile bands shall be divided among the neutral bands of the said tribes — the Sacs among the Sacs and the Foxes among the Foxes." Principally for the use of the "women and children, whose husbands, fathers and brothers were killed in the war, the Government agreed to donate 35 beef cattle, \'2 bushels of salt, 30 barrels of pork and ."0 barrels of flour, as well as 6,000 bushels of corn — all to be delivered in the following month of April at the mouth of the lower Iowa. Another article reads: "At the request of the said confederated tribes, it is agreed that a suitable present shall be made to them on their pointing out to any United States agent authorized for the purpose the position or positions of one or more mines supposed by the said tribes to be of a metal more valuable than lead or iron." Keokuk headed the delegation of thirty-three chiefs of the Sauk and Foxes, who made their marks to validate the treaty which finally quieted the bitter rivalry of He Who Has Been Everywhere (Keokuk) and the Black Hawk, the crushed Sauk warrior. The acknowledged chief of the reunited nation refused the proffer of schools and teachers for the children of his race; as his people "were made for Indians and he had always seen that it made Indians worse to educate them." BLACK HAWK IN KEEPING OF KEOKUK Although Black Hawk and his fellow prisoners were in the special keeping of Keokuk, the wise and diplomatic chief of the Indian nation treated the fallen warrior with the greatest consideration. Early in the spring of 1833, Keokuk brought to Black Hawk his wife and daughter, Colonel Davenport, Antoine LeClaire and many prominent Sauk and Foxes to make him a friendly visit and lighten his depressed spirits. The chief also endeavored to obtain the old warrior's release, but the War Department thought best to first present Black Hawk and the Prophet to President Jackson at Washington, under the conduct of an army officer, and impress the ringleaders of the war with the power and the resources of the nation which they had defied. All his speeches show that he was duly impressed. Black Hawk, the Prophet and other mem- bers of the Indian delegation, were confined in Fortress Monroe for several days, by order of the President, visited the Norfolk Navy Yard, and on June 6th reached Baltimore. There Black Hawk again met President Jackson, who told him plainly why he and his Indians were making the tour. "Major (John) Garland, who is with yon," said the President, "will conduct you through some of our towns. You will see the strength of the white people. You will see that our young men are as numerous as the leaves in the woods. What can you do against us? You may kill a few women and children, but such a force would soon be sent against you as would destroy your whole tribe. Let the red men hunt and take care of their families; but I hope they will not again raise their hands against their white brethren. We do not wish to injure you. We desire your prosperity and improvement; but if you again plunge your knives into the breasts of our people, I shall send a force which will severely punish you for all yonr cruelties. When you go back, listen to the counsels of Keokuk and other friendly chiefs. Bury the tomahawk and 134 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY live in peace with the frontiers. And I pray the Great Spirit to give you a smooth path and a fair sky to return." An impressive military parade at Philadelphia, a balloon ascension at New York City and an address of counsel and welcome by an aged Seneca chief at Buffalo, with dense and bewildering crowds surging around him, filled Black Hawk with wonder and awe. The remainder of the route was by way of Detroit and Green Bay, up the Fox River and down the Wisconsin to Fort Armstrong, which was reached on the 1st of August. There Black Hawk and the returned captives were welcomed by the assembled Sauk and Foxes, who had come over from the west side of the river in canoes floating the Amer- ican flag and headed by Keokuk. After smoking the pipe of peace, they re- turned to the west bank to await the grand council set for the following day, when Black Hawk was to be taken to his new home. About 10 o'clock on the morning of August 2, 1833, Keokuk, with 100 of his followers crossed the river to Fort Armstrong, where a room had been prepared for the council, and Black Hawk was escorted to a seat opposite the acknowledged chief of his nation. Major Garland opened the council with a friendly speech, and read the address of President Jackson to Black Hawk which was delivered in Baltimore. Keokuk, therein designated as the future custodian of Black Hawk, followed in the same propitiatory spirit, but Major Garland emphasized the fact that President Jackson would hereafter acknowl- edge Keokuk as the principal chief of the Sauk and Foxes and that he wished Black Hawk to listen and conform to the counsels of the former. The warrior spirit then burst the bounds of discretion in the mind of the fallen Sauk leader and he cried that he would not conform to the counsels of anyone ; that no one should govern him, and concluded with: "What I said to our Great Father at Washington, I say again. I will always listen to him." And Pres- sident Jackson had specially commanded him to "listen to the counsels of Keokuk." But Black Hawk's fit of anger passed and, after being kindly advised and excused by Keokuk, he accepted the inevitable. There was a more informal council in the evening at which the pipe of peace was again smoked and amity also pledged in a round of champagne. "Early next morning," says Stevens, "Black Hawk went to his family and the Sacs hailed his return with joy. Though shorn of power, no allusions were made to his new conditions; everywhere his old friends, who never be- fore sympathized with him, now exercised every effort to make his declining years pleasant. He settled quietly down and for some time made his home near Keokuk's village on Iowa River." THE LAST DAYS OF THE SAUK WARRIOR In the autumn of 1837 Black Hawk made another tour of eastern cities, in company with a delegation of Sauk and Foxes headed by Keokuk. It is intimated that he was taken by the chief as a guarantee that peace would be maintained in the Indian nation west of the Mississippi. After his return, he and his family spent the winter on a small stream known as Devil's Creek, in Lee County, Iowa. In the spring of 1838, the Black Hawk family, which comprised the parents, two sons and daughter, moved to a locality near the BLACK HAWK IN CIVILIAN ATTIEE 136 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY north bank of the Des Moines River and the site of the famous battle at which the Sauk had crushed the lowas many years before. His cabin stood about one hundred feet from the river, a few rods from that of the Indian agent. Close by flowed the clear waters of what was known as Black Hawk's Spring, and there was the favorite dreaming place of the old warrior during his last days in the autumn of 1838. He died in October of that year on Ration day, when nearly every chief of the nation was absent at Fort Armstrong, but was attended by his faithful wife, Singing Bird. He was buried about half a mile from his cabin home and his body was inclosed in a sodded sepulchre built of puncheons and boards. His body was placed in a sitting posture, supported by a wooden slab, and was garbed in a suit of military clothes given to him by President Jackson while he was in Washington. On his head was a military cap elaborately ornamented with feathers. At his left side was placed a cane given him by Henry Clay, with his right hand resting on it. There were also placed in the grave two swords, a quantity of wampum, an extra pair of moccasins and other articles of Indian costume, with a supply of provisions sufficient to last him three days on his journey to the spirit land. Inclosing the sodded tomb was a picket fence about a dozen feet high. During the year after Black Hawk's death and entombment, the body was stolen by a physician and sent to St. Louis and the bones articulated. The skeleton was traced by the sons of Black Hawk, deposited in the museum of the Bur- lington Geological and Historical Society and finally consumed by fire. Fate even denied the bones of Black Hawk a resting place, and their return to the fiery element seemed in keeping with his fierce and restless life. BLACK HAWK'S BATTLE FIELD ON CAMPBELL'S ISLAND (1814) CHAPTER VI FORERIXXERS OF STABILITY PIONEERS OF PERMANENT OCCUPANCY PIERRE LAPORTE LASALLIER — STEPHEN MACK — THIEBAULT, OR TII1EBEAU — BLACK HAWK'S VILLAGE AND WATCH TOWER GEORGE DAVENPORT — THE CLARKS, THE FIRST WHITES ON THE MAINLAND — DAVENPORT VS. CLARK A TRAGICALLY LONELY WOMAN — JUDGE J. W. SPENCER — DAVENPORT AND HIS TRADE TRAILS FOR THE LEAD REGIONS — RIVAL PIONEER IX X KEEPERS — FERRIES AT THE ROCK RIVER CROSSINGS — ISAAC CHAMBERS AND JOHN ANKNEY — ENTER THE SUBSTANTIAL JOHN DIXON — THE FAMOUS DIXON HOME} — SCOTT VISITS FATHER DIXON. Notwithstanding the menace of Black Hawk and his band to the settle- ment of whites in the Rock River Valley, Indian traders ventured into this frontier region of the West. The names of a few of them have sifted down to the present. Some left their cabins which they occupied in various degrees of permanency, and came in contact with travelers and expeditions. Others left descendants, who were community builders. The pioneers in the upper part of the valley, who blazed the way for permanent occupancy, were friends of the Indians whom they found as claimants of the soil and sometimes as- Mimed more intimate relations with them, as a matter both of business policy and personal safety; ofttimes such marital relations were accompanied by ab- solute faithfulness and deep affection. In the lower valley, under the pro- tection of Fort Armstrong, such settled life, as was illustrated by the Daven- ports, was essentially Anglo-Saxon in its nature. PIERRE LAPORTE Pierre LaPorte, LaSallier and Stephen Mack were the fur traders whose personalities and travels are recorded, with more or less distinctness, in the records of the upper Rock River Valley which fall within the period con- cluded by the Black Hawk war. As LaPorte was the great-grandfather of Frank E. Stevens, the newspaper man and one of the editors of this work, it is interesting to know what the modern writer has to say of his widely traveled forebear in those primitive times of the Rock River Valley. "Pierre LaPorte, a Frenchman born at what was old Fort Frontenac, in Canada, worked for the old American Fur Company for a great many years. Beginning with the nineteenth century and for a period before that time, he had as his ter- ritory Rock River running from a point just above where Janesville is now located. The great double bend about half way up the Ouisconsin line was one of the camping spots or trading stations. The mouth of the Rock River was his down-stream terminal. * * * My mother distinctly remembers 137 138 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY (written in 1909) the home-coming trips of the old gentleman, and also the amount of baggage he was compelled to carry — 87 pounds. When he had a season's purchase, he pushed through to what is now Chicago, skirted the Lakes and delivered the load at some point on the Saint Lawrence, I believe, though upon that point I am not certain." "With the exception of a few trips made to the Rocky Mountains," con- tinues Mr. Stevens, "Pierre LaPorte covered this Rock River territory from the year 1780 to the year 1810. Usually, he sold his furs each spring time at the point now called St. Joseph, Michigan, and the point called Chicago, Illinois. On a few occasions he trapped up-stream along Rock River, and at the end of such expeditions he sold his cargo of skins at Green Bay. This old Frenchman died at his home in Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, Ontario, about the year 1830. Of his descendants living in and about Dixon (in 1914) may be included Frank E. Stevens, Mrs. William II. Edwards, State's Attorney Harry Edwards, and the LaPortes, the Herricks and the Nisbets, of Paw Paw, Lee County. "LaPorte was but one of the myriad Frenchmen who blazed the way for the civilization which followed so rapidly. Like most of the Frenchmen, this one found no trouble at all in dealing amicably with the Indians. They were hospitable and honorable in their dealings and they were remarkably true in all their friendships. The Indians who occupied the Rock River country, prin- cipally Winnebagoes, were like Indians elsewhere ; treated fairly, they ever were found to be firm in their attachments, civil in their conduct and honor- able in their business transactions." LASALLIER LaSallier, another Frenchman, seems to have been more marked as a guide than a trapper and his cabin was in the neighborhood of Ogee's, or Dixon's Ferry. He is said to have married a Pottawatomie Indian and the weight of evidence is that their daughter was the wife of Joseph Ogee, the drunken ferryman, half French and half Indian, who preceded John Dixon, the very temperate and moral citizen from New York, in his transportation duties. Little definite is known of LaSallier and there is some doubt whether Mrs. Joseph Ogee was his daughter ; and if the old French guide were living it is doubtful whether he would ever take the pains to establish the fact. STEPHEN MACK Stephen Mack, the founder of Macktown, the Rockton (Winnebago County) of today, has been called the first permanent citizen of the Rock River Valley. The family was of good Vermont stock. The father and son (both Stephen) served in the Continental army before moving West. Stephen Mack, Sr., who had been commissioned a colonel in the Vermont militia served in the War of 1812, witnessed Hull's humiliating surrender at Detroit, where he had settled, was a prominent citizen of that place and afterward became the founder of the City of Pontiac, Michigan. There he died in 1826. Stephen Mack, Jr., came to Rock River about 1822. He had joined a gov- ernment expedition bound for Green Bay, which was then the great fur market THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 139 of the West. As his father was one of the leading merchants and fur dealers of Detroit and the West, the younger man, after his visit to Green Bay resolved to found a trading post of his own. To this end he was directed to the Rock River country and, mounting a pony, started across Southeastern Wisconsin for the head of the noble valley, in the pioneer history of which he was to be a central figure. In due time, he reached the present site of Janesville and soon afterward the Turtle village of the Winnebago. As a favorable site for his proposed trading post, the Indians directed him to Bird's Grove, about two miles east of the Rockton of today. In seeking that locality, however, he took the wrong trail, passed the Grove and continued his journey until he reached a Pottawatomie village in what is now Lee County, at or near Grand Detour. Here Mack rested and set up his trading post. Licenses from the Government authorizing him to conduct this business of barter and trade were issued to him in 1823, 1824 and 1826. During the two or three years of his stay in the Grand Detour region his usual procedure was to load his furs on the backs of Indian ponies and start for Chicago. There, the trader sold them to John Kinzie of Chicago, Solomon Juneau of Milwaukee and others, stocked up with merchandise and then trudged back to the Pottawatomie village and his post. Several causes worked harm to the success of Mack as a trader. He refused to sell either firearms or liquor to the Indians among whom he resided. The Pottawatomi were notorious for their love of fire water and this deprivation of itself was enough to arouse their ill-will. Unlike most of the other inde- pendent traders, at first he had shown no inclination to intermarry with their women, and it was even charged that he used his influence to benefit other traders rather than for the good of the Indians. Altogether, the opposition raised against him had become so bitter that it was said his death had been decreed. The story runs that a daughter of the chief, Hononegah by name, had fallen in love with the white trader and warned him of the plot against his life. Mack fled to Chicago, pursued by some of his enemies, and the pending differences were so adjusted as to enable him to return to his home post. Al- though assurances were given for his personal safety, it is said that a subsequent attempt made upon his life was frustrated by his Indian sweetheart who hid him in an empty barrel, while his lodge was surrounded by his would-be mur- derers. Moved by such devotion, and perhaps also to quiet the suspicions of his enemies and ensure his personal safety, Mack married his brave and devoted Pottawatomie woman and was adopted into the tribe. But even these arrange- ments did not cement lasting friendship between the Indians and the New England man. Mack's last trip to Chicago was made with three ponies. The season had been unusually successful and he started on his return trip with more goods than he had ever before carried. The Indians considered this a propitious occa- sion to ambush him, kill him and seize the plunder. But the alert Hononegah again thwarted the plot by stealing from the Pottawatomie camp, and meeting her husband on the road to the village. Together they turned from the Grand Detour trail and made their way to the Winnebago village in Bird's Grove, Mack's original destination. He there opened another trading post. In June, 1832, when Black Hawk's fortunes were at their best and the new American army was just about to push up the valley in earnest, the Sauk warrior and 140 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY one of his bands paid Bird's Grove a visit. In alarm, Mack abandoned his post and hid on the island in the river, while a delegation of Winnebago enter- tained Black Hawk and his men. Stephen Mack continued in the fur trade at Bird's Grove until the autumn of 1835, when he settled on the bluff at the mouth of the Pecatonica River, where in 1839 he erected a large frame residence and within the next decade was the central figure in the founding of Macktown. ■ He built a spacious general store and, with his cousin, Merrill E. Mack, conducted a general mercantile busi- ness. The founder of Macktown also built a schoolhouse, and in 1843 threw the first draw bridge across Rock River in the State of Illinois. In Mack's day there was some steamboat traffic on that stream. He also served his people in civil matters. For years he was a member of the Board of Supervisors and was one of the county judges at the time of his death on April 10, 1850. The late Charles A. Church in his "History of Winnebago County" had this to say of the domestic affairs of Stephen Mack: "Mack had taken Ho- nonegah to be his wife under the Indian form of marriage. In order to fully protect the title of his children to his estate, he and his wife were remarried September 14, 1840, by William Hulin, a justice of the peace. This action, however, was probably unnecessary. It is a principle in international law that a marriage is recognized as legal whenever it is held to be such in the country in which it was solemnized. This principle would be applied to the marriage rite among Indians and similar races. On the 4th of April, 1840, Mack exe- cuted his will. By this will he divided his property equally among his wife and eight children. Hononegah died in 1847. She was the mother of eleven children, two of whom died in infancy. Louisa and Mary were students at Rock- ford Seminary for a time, but their free Indian nature could not long endure such restraint. Louisa and her husband, according to latest information, were residing in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. Caroline, the youngest, was a babe when her mother died. "In 1848 Mack married Mrs. Daniels of Harrison. The ceremony was per- formed at Beloit. His subsequent domestic life was not as happy as it had been with Hononegah. On February 14, 1849, Mack executed a codicil to his will. Since the date of the former instrument changes had occurred in his family. Three children had been born, one child and Hononegah had died, and he had remarried. The codicil equally divided the estate among his wife and children. "Stephen Mack died very suddenly April 10, 1850. At the time of his death he owned land in several adjoining sections which aggregated about 1,000 acres. He was buried on his farm beside his Indian wife. Thirty years later, May 19, 1880, their remains were removed and buried in the Phillips cemetery near Harrison. "Many reasons have been given why this educated gentleman of New Eng- land should have sought a life on the frontier and married a woman of a savage race. It is said death claimed the idol of his first love. Others believe an insidious appetite drove him to this western wilderness. It may have been a keen foresight by which he caught a glimpse of the marvelous development of the West. Whatever the motive, he kept his secret until he passed beyond THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY HI the judgment of men. His career was: strange and romantic. lie is remembered ;is dignified in bearing, genial and courteous, a kind husband and father, a true friend and an honest man." .Mack was a cousin of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, and both his sis- ter and mother spent their last years as members of that faith in Utah. His last child by his faithful and congenial Indian wife, Caroline, was well educated by her uncle and moved in the cultured circles of Pontiae, Michigan — the city founded by her grandfather. She became Mrs. Carrie Mack Newberry and largely through her many of the facts presented in this sketch ai*e collated. THIEBAULT, OR THIEBEAU The French trader, Thiebault, or Thiebeau, who established his post at the Winnebago Indian village known as The Turtle, a few miles up the Rock River Valley from Bird's Grove, was a far different type of a man than Stephen Mack. About the time that Mack located in the Grand Detour region, Thiebault, a Green Bay trader, had worked his way up the Fox River Valley of Wiscon- sin and down the Rock River, past several Winnebago villages, until he reached tlic large settlement planted on the present site of Beloit. When first met by travelers at that locality in 1836, he stated that he had been trading at the Turtle village for about a dozen years. Thiebault was remarkably intelligent, spoke with fluency English, French and three Indian languages, and his services as an interpreter were therefore in large demand. At The Turtle, he was living with two squaw wives, one an Indian of middle age and the other a comely half-breed of eighteen, a fair blonde and the mother of a young babe. In his family was also a youth of fourteen by a deceased wife. Through his mar- riages with native women and his skill as a linguist, Thiebault was high in the favor of the Winnebago and they allowed him to claim land for "three looks" in every direction from his cabin. A "look," this remarkable and elastic unit of land measure, was defined as all the land which could be seen between a given standpoint and the farthest individual range of vision. As that range was as varied as the eyesight of the individual land-viewers, a "look" did not mean much to the vocabulary of the white surveyor. As Thiebault was a woodsman, probably of keen and long vision, he could claim a splendid estate looking in all directions from the heights of the community we now call Beloit. The next report concerning the French trader, so land-poor, is to the effect that his reputation as an interpreter drew him from his post at the Turtle village and caused him to settle on the shores of Lake Koshkonong, at a place afterward called Thiebault 's Point. In the winter of 1837-38 he disappeared from the face of the earth, and it is surmised that he was murdered by his son and one of his wives. There are several stories current to account for his taking-off, and the probable disappearance of his body through a hole in the ice. It is said that he was very brutal when in his cups, which was his frequent state. Another tale was that he had decided upon adopting the settled and peaceful life of a farmer, but that his Indian relatives were equally deter- mined to migrate to their western reservation beyond the Mississippi. At all events, soon after his disappearance his son and one of his squaws left the region 142 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of Lake Koshkonong for the West; and that act concludes the record of Thie- bault, the French trader, in the upper valley of the Rock River. BLACK HAWK'S VILLAGE AND WATCH TOWER The lower portion of the valley where it opens out into the Mississippi, with its islands and high bluffs, is still a country of magnificent distances. It is no wonder that the red man clung to it so tenaciously and left it with regret and rebellion. The United States acquired title to the largest of these tracts of land near the mouth of Rock River, known as Rocky Island, through the treaty of 1804. But the island was not occupied by white men and the Indians frequented it as one of their favorite hunting and fishing grounds until the outbreak of the War of 1812. As a result of that war, Fort Armstrong was built at the western extremity of Rocky, or Rock Island, in the Mississippi River and opposite the Fox village on the northern shore of the peninsula formed by the juncture of the Rock River with the parent stream. On the southern shores of the peninsula and the northern banks of the Rock River was the great Sauk village and upon the noble heights overlooking Saukenuk was Black Hawk's Watch Tower. Fort Armstrong was the military observatory estab- lished by the United States to guard its frontiers along the Mississippi Valley and the interior of the country of Northern Illinois. Overlooking Saukenuk, which had been burned by the American expedition under Colonel John Mont- gomery during the Revolutionary war, was the watch-out. From that point the approach of an enemy could be discerned for many miles and when Black Hawk dominated so large a portion of the Indian nation the name of the war- like leader was attached to it as Black Hawk's Watch Tower. At the time of the advent of the first whites into this region, Black Hawk himself thus describes the country of his people: "Our village was situated on the north side of the Rock River, at the foot of the rapids on the point of land between Rock River and the Mississippi. In front, a prairie extended to the Mississippi and in the rear a continued bluff gently ascended from the prairie. "On its highest peak our Watch Tower was situated, from which we had a fine view for many miles up and down Rock River in every direction. On the side of this bluff we had our corn fields, extending about two miles up and parallel with the large river, where they adjoined those of the Foxes, whose village was on the same stream, opposite the lower end of Rock Island and three miles distant from ours. We had 800 acres in cultivation, including what we had on the islands in Rock River. The land around our village which remained unbroken was covered with blue grass, which furnished excellent pasture for our horses. Several fine springs poured out of the bluff near by, from which we were well supplied with good water. The rapids of Rock River furnished us with an abundance of excellent fish and the land, being very fertile, never failed to produce good crops of corn, beans, pumpkins and squashes. We always had plenty; our children never cried from hunger, nei- ther were our people in want. Here our village had stood for more than a hundred years, during all of which time we were the undisputed possessors of the Mississippi Valley from the Wisconsin to the Portage des Sioux, near the mouth of the Missouri, being about seven hundred miles in length." THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 143 GEORGE DAVENPORT George Davenport, the young Englishman, with a good record for military >rr vice in the Indian campaigns of the West and the War of 1812, had selected the site of Fort Armstrong and assisted in its construction. Soon afterward he built a log house a few hundred yards from the fort on the northern shore of Rocky Island and there opened a trading post. Across the Mississippi River, nearly opposite Davenport's trading post, was a Fox Indian village, and in its midst was the cabin of Antoine LeClaire, a French halfbreed with an Indian wife. He was the interpreter for the commandant at the fort and was acting as such at the conclusion of the Black Hawk war and the final treaty with its instigator. LeClaire afterward erected the first house on the site of the Daven- port of the present, although the town was named in honor of Mr. Davenport, who was largely interested in the company which platted it and then an in- fluential citizen of unmixed blood. THE CLARKS, FIRST WHITES ON THE MAINLAND The Clark family represented the first whites to settle on the mainland in the Rock Island district. The family came originally from Virginia, settled first in Wabash County, Illinois; later, moved to Fort Edwards, near Warsaw, and resided there for only a short time; then steamed up the Mississippi and finally landed on the mainland opposite Fort Armstrong in August, 1828. Captain W. L. Clark, who died in Buffalo, Iowa, at the age of ninety-three, in 1911. was then five years of age. Not long before his death he wrote several letters to a close friend in Rock Island describing some of the experiences of his parents and giving many graphic pictures of this period antedating the Black Hawk war. Some of them would seem to indicate that Mr. Davenport resented the coming of the elder Clark as an invader of trading territory which had not previously been divided with anyone. DAVENPORT VS. CLARK Mrs. K. T. Anderson, of Rock Island, by whom this correspondence was used, says: "Captain Clark was a lad of five and said he well remembered when his father carried him down the gang-plank of the little steamer and stood him on the shore amidst hundreds of Indians gathered to see the boat come in. I have often wondered what the mother's emotions were as she watched the boat steam on up the river leaving her there, the only white woman on the mainland, hers the only white family, and the nearest neighbors except for the Davenports on the island) a hundred miles away. After the family was settled in a cabin which they put up close to the river, Davenport, having heard of the family's advent, sent for the elder Clark and engaged him to cut wild hay for the stock at Fort Armstrong. When this contract was completed, Mr. Clark proceeded to cut hay for his own use, for he had determined to go back to Fort Edwards and drive up some cattle which he owned there. Davenport ordered him to stop cutting hay, since the fort was supplied, but when no attention was paid to his orders he became very angry, 144 THE EOCK RIVER VALLEY for he did not want any white people to settle here since it would interfere with and finally stop his enormously profitable trade with the Indians." It is charged in the narrative, based on Captain Clark's letters, that Daven- port tried to drive the Clarks away by refusing to sell them clothing or pro- visions. It is claimed they were thus saved from suffering during their first winter: "On his last trip down the river, the captain of the steamer which had moved them to Rock Island left in charge of the family, till his return in the spring, a barrel of whiskey. The soldiers in the fort learned of this and, while a strict guard was maintained to prevent any intercourse with the lone family on shore, the soldiers discovered a way to get at the liquor through a cave under the fort of which the officers had no knowledge. They would steal out in pairs at night, go to the Clark cabin and exchange coffee, sugar, salt, beans, rice, flour and shoes for whiskey from the barrel." It is also charged that Davenport bribed the Indians with trinkets to annoy and frighten the Clarks. One afternoon while Father Clark was away from the house four half-drunk Indians, two on a pony, came riding up to the cabin, dismounted, went in and sitting down on the floor ordered Mother Clark to give them food. Being timid and entirely alone, she obeyed; but in the midst of the feast Father Clark unexpectedly returned and learning what the trouble was, commanded the Indians to " puk-a-chee, " go away. This incensed the Indians and they jumped up to fight. Mr. Clark stepped outside the door, which was one log above the ground, and as the Indians came out, each half drunk, they stumbled over the sill. Mr. Clark had in his hand a hoop-pole with which he had been driving cattle, and he now used it with telling effect, knocking down first one and then the other of the drunken brutes till they all begged for mercy. He then marched them to the river where they washed their wounds and then mounting their ponies they were about to ride away when one of them raised a war club to throw at Mr. Clark. Before he could do so, however, Father Clark raised a fish-gig which he had picked up to strike at the Indian. This frightened the buck and dropping his weapon they all rode away at full speed to their Rock River village. The next day what was the family's surprise to receive a visit from Black Hawk and these same four Indians. The chief interviewed Mr. Clark and, after ascertaining all the facts, he filled his pipe with Kinnikinnic, lit it and, after taking a few whiffs, handed it to Father Clark who, in turn, handed it to the other Indians ; and so, all having smoked the peace pipe, friendship was once more restored. On another occasion an Indian whose wickiup was only about thirty feet from the Clark cabin and who had always been peaceable and friendly, came in a half drunken condition, forced his way into the cabin and wanted to fight. Mr. Clark was at home and taking a good sized switch he thrashed the visitor till he ran howling from the house. An Indian would stand up without a tremor before a gun, but he would run from a switching which he would consider the most humiliating form of punishment ; and in the breast of this Indian his disgrace rankled till he determined to have revenge. During the winter all the Indians were off on their winter hunt when Mr. Clark was called to Fort Edwards on business. As he was traveling home, walking close to the shore on the snow-covered ice near the bluff at T 1 1 E ROCK R 1 VER VALLEY 145 Fort Madison, he saw an Indian running toward a large tree. Suspecting treachery, he raised his gun and commanded the Indian to come out on the ice. Hf obeyed and as he approached Mr. Clark he proved to be the Indian whom he had switched and who evidently had planned to wipe out his dis- grace by securing his enemy's scalp. Father Clark compelled him to lay all his weapons on the ice and then march many miles before him up the river, alter which he allowed him to return for his weapons. Black Hawk, whom .Mr. Clark knew very well, claimed that both of these quarrels were instigated by Davenport in an attempt to frighten away the family. Hut the Clarks remained and were it not for them a settlement at this point would not have been made until several years later. A TRAGICALLY LONELY WOMAN "But what a tragically lonely life it must have been for Mother Clark," exclaims Mrs. Anderson, "cut off from all society and intercourse with other white families, feeling that they were looked upon as interlopers and begrudged even the meager living they secured, in constant dread of the Indians, with no doctor near and no one to turn to for help or sympathy in time of sick- ness, and with but scant communication with the outside world; for when Judge J. W. Spencer came to Fort Armstrong in the latter part of December, 1829, on his way to Galena, the commander of the garrison engaged him to carry the mail from the fort and bring one back with him, as they had re- ceived no mail for two months and were anxious to know who had been elected President of the United States." JUDGE J. W. SPENCER Judge Spencer was only one of hundreds bound for the lead regions, which were not only developing around Galena but were being prospected and opened to the north. In this extension of operations, the Shullsburg diggings in what is now Lafayette County, "Wisconsin, were drawing miners and traders from all parts of the State, especially from Chicago, the Illinois Valley and the districts farther south. Many of these adventurers brought provisions, tools and other supplies to the mines in the spring, worked the diggings in the summer and returned home in the fall before the coming on of cold weather. On account of such migratory habits they were called "suckers," a democratic name often applied to residents of Illinois as a people. The rush to the lead mines of this State was usually through either the valley of the Illinois or Rock River to the Mississippi, and thence, by river or land, to Galena, via Rock Island. DAVENPORT AND HIS TRADE For a number of years Davenport received the benefit of this large travel. Be not only sold the "suckers*' his goods, but ferried them wherever they wished to go as a starting point for their ascent of the Mississippi. In 1825 lie established the firsl public ferry across the river between Famhamsburg 146 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY (now Rock Island) and Davenport. This was operated in two sections. The first crossed the Illinois channel of the river known as the "slough" to Rocky Island and the second crossed the main channel to the Iowa shore. The island landing on the main channel was in front of the Davenport residence. On the Iowa shore were two landings, one for arrival and the other for departure. This was necessary on account of the strong current which carried the boats well down-stream on the passage over. ' Each crew to operate the ferry con- sisted of two oarsmen and a man at the helm. TRAILS FOR THE LEAD REGIONS This circuitous route to the lead mines was an aggravation to the char- acter of the typical American pioneer, who, even at that early day, was eager for short cuts to his destination. So in the spring of 1825, there came into the West from New York one Oliver W. Kellogg who, in due time, found himself in Peoria with his wagon about to start for the lead mines in the Galena district. Traveling up the Illinois Valley to Peru, he struck across country until he reached the Rock River about three miles east of the present city of Dixon. At that point, he forded the stream, as no ferry had yet been established; passed over the prairie between what are now known as Polo and Mount Morris, and thence in a generally northwesternly direction journeyed to Galena. Still the route from Peoria was indirect, as it curved too far east. So John Boles came to the rescue of the impatient men who wished to reach the lead mines with the least possible delay of those times. In the spring of 1826, while traveling across the country toward Northwestern Illinois, he left the Kellogg trail some distance south of Rock River, crossed the stream at the present site of Dixon, continued north to a locality about a mile east of Polo, thence north to White Oak Grove half a mile west of Forreston, northwestern Ogle County, and thence, via Crane's Grove, to Galena. For several years thereafter the Boles route was the popular overland trail from Peoria to Galena and the lead region above. Early in the year 1827 travel commenced over the Boles route. Elisha Doty was in the procession of teams starting to Galena and in March reached the Rock River. He attempted to cross on the ice, but found it would not hold his horses and wagon and was obliged to return to the south bank of the river. There he counted two hundred teams all bound for Galena. Mr. Doty afterward settled at Polo, where he resided for many years. RIVAL PIONEER INN KEEPERS About this time, also, the pioneer overland trail breaker, located at Burr Oak Grove, present township of Erin, Stephenson County. The year before he arrived a wandering fur trader, who had been at Galena, built himself a cabin and set himself up in business. In 1827 Mr. Kellogg assumed his improvements, erected a substantial house of his own and opened it to the traveling public. His stay did not exceed two years and as this covered the period of the Winnebago war, when overland travel between Peoria and the THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 147 lead mint's was greatly reduced, it is probable thai the inn at Kellogg 's Grove did not prosper. A Frenchman named Lafayette occupied the Kellogg premises until the winter preceding the Black Hawk war. They were then abandoned and the Kellogg structure afforded shelter to some of Colonel John Clement's men when they were surprised and some killed by Black Hawk and his band. After the Winnebago in the lead region and the upper valley of the Rock River had been quieted, travel from Peoria was resumed with its former vigor. The great drawback to the Boles route was the crossing of the Rock River. Except at rare intervals it could not be forded, and travelers were obliged to depend upon the assistance of incapable or uncertain Winnebago who hap- pened to be on hand at the time a crossing was desired. "The method of crossing the river with teams before the establishment of a ferry," says a pioneer of those days, "was primitive and simple. On arriving at the place of crossing, the wagons were unloaded and the loads carried over in canoes by the Indians. The wagon was then driven with the side to the stream and two wheels lifted into a canoe, then shoved a little out into the river; another canoe received the other two wheels, when the double boat was paddled or poled to the other side. The horses were taken by the bridle and made to swim by the side of the canoe, while the cattle swam loose. Then commenced the lifting out of the wagon and reloading, after which the journey w r as re- newed and all hands happy that the task of crossing the river was completed." FERRIES AT THE ROCK RIVER CROSSINGS The Indians were not reliable as ferrymen in the manner described, being frequently absent, or ill disposed to render immediate assistance. A fairly direct trail having been established from Peoria to the lead diggings, the de- lays suffered in crossing the Rock River became so exasperating that John L. Bogardus, a "half-baked" Peoria lawyer and adventurer, undertook to establish a ferry at the most convenient point at which to operate it. Its projector first sent up a man who built a little shanty on the south bank of the stream and occupied it until the arrival of Mr. Doty, a carpenter and father of the Elisha Doty already mentioned as one of the first settlers at Polo. The senior Doty had been dispatched to build the ferry boat, but when it was half com- pleted the Indians burned it and advised him and his assistant to return to Peoria. The advice of the Indians and departure of the whites were almost coincident. The failure of the Bogardus enterprise but stirred the men of Illinois to further action. As a mail route was about to be established between Peoria and Galena and a postoffice at the crossing of the Rock River now within the city limits of Dixon, it was imperative that a white man's ferry should be established there. At this time, there was a French half breed at Peoria. He had been in the employ of the old American Fur Company and had long acted as an interpreter between the whites and Indians, having himself mar- ried a Pottawatomie woman. This Joseph Ogee, although addicted to drink, was above the average in intelligence of those in his class, and sent his children to the school of Mrs. Maria Harkness. Among other families which patronized the school were those of Judge Latham, the Indian agent, and John Dixon — Vol. I— 10 148 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the able and energetic business man from New York, the moralist, Circuit Clerk of Peoria County, or Northern Illinois, justice of the peace, mail con- tractor, and all-around progressive citizen. It is said to have been largely through the influence of Mr. Dixon that Ogee was established as a ferryman at the landing of what is now the foot of Peoria Avenue, City of Dixon. He built a log house about 300 feet south of the river bank and there installed his Indian wife and children. Being for all practical purposes of the red race, Ogee was not molested. The ferry boat was launched in the spring of 1828. Not only the ferryman, but his passengers, poled the heavy boat across stream, their labors being largely de- termined by the stage of the water, high or low, and the consequent strength of the current. Ogee continued to operate the ferry alone until November 21, 1829, when he sold a half interest in the enterprise to George Schellenger, who is rather indefinitely described as a resident of Jo Daviess County. The consideration was $700. On the 7th of the following month, Ogee took out a license from that county, but on January 29, 1830, the partnership with Schellenger was dissolved. It would seem from the records that Schellenger made the best of the business arrangement, as about two months after he formed the part- nership with Ogee he turned back his half interest for $1,060, payable in va- rious installments. But chattel mortgages against the ferry property had been filed by Henry Gratiot & Company of Galena and other creditors, so that financial matters were much involved when the next transfer of the estab- lishment occurred. ISAAC CHAMBERS AND JOHN ANKNEY Isaac Chambers and John Ankney were among the earliest settlers of the Rock River Valley. Like many others of the pioneers they were first attracted to the lead mines of the Galena country and soon concluded that the more healthful and substantial life of the countryman was preferable to the un- certain and feverish existence of the miner or the merchant in a mining com- munity. Both these men came to Galena from the East in 1827. Two years afterward Chambers took up a claim on the eastern edge of Buffalo Grove, in what is now Buffalo Township, Southwestern Ogle County. He had passed through the region on his way to the mines, and the location appealed both to his eye and his judgment. It was Mr. Chambers' intention to build and keep a tavern for travelers to and from Galena, as his proposed claim was just off the main thoroughfare as fixed by Boles. The cabin which he built is claimed to be the first dwelling erected by a white man in Buffalo Grove. On Christmas day of 1829, a few days after Chambers had located, John Ankney appeared and charged that Chambers had jumped the claim which he had already made. Some controversy ensued which resulted in Ankney Avithdrawing his claim and selecting land on the north side of Buffalo Creek, about half a mile northwest of Chambers' place, where he established a rival roadhouse. Afterward, their differences were adjusted and they became close friends. In 1849, Ankney located at Mt. Morris, of which he became post- master, holding that position at the time of his death in 1853. Mr. Chambers THE HOCK RIVEB VALLEY 149 had died several years previously, having sold his claim on Buffalo Creek and Located farther west on Elkhorn Creek. There he built a mill and was re- Biding near it ;it the time of his death in 1847. More than a year before Chambers and Ankney made their claims on Buf- falo Creek, Ogle County, John Dixon and his family left Peoria and located at what was then Boyd's Grove, Bureau County. There they made their home mar the family of Charles S. Boyd, Mr. Dixon's brother-in-law. ENTER THE SUBSTANTIAL JOHN DIXON In March, 1830, Mr. Dixon leased the ferry from Ogee, and on the fol- lowing 11th of April reached his destination known by its postal designation as Ogee's Ferry. It is believed that Mr. Dixon was guided to this action by mixed motives. Ogee's habits had become notoriously bad; Dixon's were above reproach, his temperance principles marking him as a sturdy and uncom- promising character all through the Rock River region. Mr. Dixon had the contract for carrying the mails from Springfield to Peoria, and thence to Galena via Gratiot's Grove, on the Pecatonica River, a few miles over the Wis- consin line. He was naturally anxious that there should not be avoidable delays in the transmission of the heavy mail to and from Galena, which made this route the most important in the state at that time. Ogee became so un- reliable that not only were the mails delayed and disarranged by the un- reliability of the ferry but he and his place became notoriously bad. Dixon's good business sense also would lead him to perceive that the postal service would be improved, the cause of morality served and practical steps taken to make the ferry a profitable enterprise if it was managed as it should be. During the period covered by his mail contracts, Mr. Dixon sometimes car- ried the mails himself, but the greater part of the driving was done by men he employed, particularly by his son, James P. Dixon. When John Dixon took over the ferry from Ogee, with the log cabin and other appurtenances and incumbrances, he changed the primitive mode of pol- ing to the application of steam as a motive force. He also added to the house a two-story structure, both for domestic and business purposes. "Between the two houses," says Stevens, "and forming a part of the one-story building was a ten or twelve-foot hallway with a door at either end facing the north and south. Entering the hall from the south, on the west was the family sitting room and on the east the travelers' and hired-help rooms, each about eighteen feet square. The furniture of the west room consisted of two beds, a number of chairs and a table extending nearly across the room. The east room contained four beds, one in each corner. The store room in which he traded with the Indians was in the east part of the cabin in the two-story portion, and there he sold powder, lead, shot, tobacco, pipes, cloth, blankets, guns, beads, traps, etc., or exchanged them for furs and deer skins, which he would ship to St. Louis, Peoria or Galena. "When John Dixon reached the Rock River and established his house at Ogee's Perry lie was forty-six years of age, strong, hearty, vigorous and thor- oughly acquainted with the frontier. He had had ten years' experience in the West. He had traveled the then new State of Illinois from one end to 150 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the other on horseback and on foot. He had met and lived with and among the Indians, had become their friend and was recognized by them as such. Though in the prime of life and in the best of health, his hair was white and was worn long, giving him the appearance of age. The Winnebago Indians, with whom he was always on terms of friendship, called him Nadachurasah, or Head-Hair- White, which term, in common speech, was soon contracted to Nachusa. "The early white settlers not long after Mr. Dixon's arrival at the Rock River began to call him Father Dixon. Thence on, he was so termed, and in speaking of him since his death it is usual to so characterize him. An old friend and early settler, John K. Robison, said: 'His personal appearance was almost unchanged from 1827 to 1876, his hair being white during all those years ; age dealt kindly with him. ' ' ' Mr. Dixon was appointed postmaster of Ogee's Ferry on September 29, 1830. The name was not changed to Dixon's Ferry until 1834 and Father Dixon continued to serve as its postmaster until 1837. Prior to the outbreak of the Black Hawk war, the Dixon home and trading post had become known as the center of fair dealing and hospitality all up and down the Rock River Valley and across country from Peoria to Galena. He and his tine wife had especially gained the good will, even friendship, of all the Indians identified with the uprising. When Black Hawk and his band went up the river immediately after the battle of Stillman's Run they stopped at Ogee's Ferry. At the time Father Dixon was at Galena and his wife was at home alone with the children. As the Sauk warriors unceremoniously crowded into the house, Mrs. Dixon sent for Old Crane, a friendly Winnebago chief, and asked for advice. The Winnebago immediately responded to her call and, with the aid of one of the Sauk chiefs, induced the intruders to leave the house. Old Crane also showed his diplomacy by inducing Mrs. Dixon to prepare a meal for the leading men of the migrating Indians. The lady readily acceded, and Black Hawk, the Prophet and Neapope, as well as Old Crane and other prominent Winnebago, were fed and served by Father Dixon's wife with so much grace that the stern Sauk warrior afterward referred to the occasion with admiration and gratitude. Afterward Mrs. Dixon and her children went to Galena, there waiting for the cessation of hostilities. John Dixon remained at the ferry for a time and later accompanied the army into Wisconsin, as scout, commissary and in other capacities. During the concluding campaign against Black Hawk he was in the personal service of Colonel Taylor and messed with him and his officers. During the entire period of campaigning and warfare, the Dixon home at the ferry was not closed. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dixon were there during portions of the so-called war, as well as their sons, James and Elijah, and the house was constantly open for the entertainment and shelter of all who came within its radius. Among those of note who found rest and hospitality at this frontier cabin, at this period, were such prominent military and civil leaders of the day as Governor John Reynolds, General Henry Atkinson and General Win- field Scott, with such minors, who afterward became famous, as Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor, Captain Abraham Lincoln, and Lieutenants Robert Anderson, Albert Sidney Johnston and Joseph E. Johnston. (Through the courtesy of the Hinlz Studio) JOHN DIXON, FOUNDER OF DIXON Copy of an old portrait 152 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE FAMOUS DIXON HOME During the months of May and June, 1832, when the regulars and the militia were organizing at Ogee's Ferry to follow Black Hawk and his force to the swamps above Lake Koshkonong and the headwaters of the Rock River, Mr. Dixon first came in contact with some of these characters of future fame. Colonel Taylor, pending the arrival of General Atkinson, was in command of the troops at Ogee's Ferry. He was constantly on the alert, intercepting marauding bands of Indians, assisting the volunteers who had temporarily offered their services while the new levy was forming at Hennepin and Fort Wilbourn and in generally protecting the frontiers. But on the whole it was a period of inaction and the officers were often at the Dixon place, buying merchandise and paying for it, or having it charged. They hunted the wild duck, the grouse, the squirrel, the deer and the wild bee trees; they fished and trapped and enjoyed in every way the delightful out-of-door life of the locality and region. They romped over the prairies, gathered at the Dixon table, dined and conversed and gave themselves to the rare freedom of the time and the place. Thus were the images of these army officers inpressed on the memory of Father Dixon. In after years he laughingly spoke of the fact that Lieutenants Davis and Anderson were always cash customers ; and the entries in his old cash books, still in the possession of one of his great- grandsons, prove his statement. John K. Robison, one of his Peoria friends who had settled with him at the Ferry, gives further instances of Dixon's experiences during the Black Hawk war and the general fearlessness and generosity of his nature, along these lines : ' ' During the Black Hawk war, Father Dixon had the contract for supplying the army with beef to the time of the final battle of the Bad Axe River. His place on the march was in the rear of the army, and from the time Wisconsin River was crossed, many times was he left so far behind as to be out of supporting distance. It so happened on the march that at one time midnight was passed before he came to camp. He was hailed by the sentinel with the snap of the lock of the gun in the man's hands and these words: 'Who comes there?' Father Dixon replied: 'Major of the Steer Battalion.' The soldier gave the order: 'Major of the Steer Battalion, march in.' This sally of wit on both sides was the foundation of Father Dixon's military title. "At another time he had been off the trail hunting one of his beeves, and on again returning to the trail he suddenly found himself face to face with two Indians, who were as much astonished at the meeting as he was. It was no time for ceremony. All were armed. Father Dixon lowered his gun and, walking about five rods, gave his hand to the nearest savage, saluting him in Winnebago. The Indian replied in Winnebago. Father Dixon and both the Indians were alike overjoyed at this unexpected good fortune — Father Dixon that he was permitted to save his scalp for another day; the Indians that they had found some one understanding their own language, under whose in- fluence they could be safely introduced to General Atkinson, for whom they had important dispatches. Their lives were in danger if seen by a soldier: THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 153 they fell their peril and were in serious embarrassment about how to approach the army. "Father Dixon's age and experience with all classes of men should have qualified him to safely criticize and distrust humanity, but he had no appre- hension of imposition; he took human nature as it fell from the hands of the infinite God. His estimate never tallied with the evil; never tired of being wronged, and as a consequence he was often disappointed in men. Obliging tn all, hospitable and kind to the needy and helpless in every condition, he often trusted strangers and travelers from whom he never received anything in return. It was no unusual thing, when the circumstances of travelers were told to Father Dixon, for him to allow his ferry and hotel bills to remain Unpaid, and to give them provisions and funds necessary to complete the jour- ney. .Many dollars were given away in this manner. His unselfishness mani- fested itself in good will to all men; the Indian or the child looked to him for favors and kindness and was not turned away empty." SCOTT VISITS FATHER DIXON General Scott's visit to the Dixon home and inn was made upon the oc- casion of his trip West to assume command of the army. He arrived too late to take any active part in the campaigns against Black Hawk, but proved himself a tzreater hero than if he had waged successful warfare against the Indians, for while the four steamboats which were conveying his expedition to Chicago were moored at Detroit cholera appeared in one of them. It was soon raging in a virulent and fatal form, the steamer Sheldon Thompson having the most victims aboard. The boats passed up the St. Clair River and at Fort Gratiot, forty miles above Detroit, five companies of 280 men were landed for treatment and observation. Some died at once; others fled to the woods and their bodies were afterwards discovered. There was only one surgeon aboard the Sheldon Thompson and he was taken sick early in the trip largely from fright. Chicago was reached on July 10th, with four of the nine companies with which Scott had started from Fortress Monroe eighteen days before ; and of the 850 men who had left Buffalo not more than 200 were fit for service. At Chicago, for want of harbor facilities, General Scott was compelled to unload his men in boats half a mile out and row them to shore. Stevens, in his history of the Black Hawk war. pays this deserved tribute to the com- ma nder of the American armies, and traces his route to Fort Armstrong, via Ogee's or Dixon's Ferry: "In all this long journey, with its horrors, and in his long stay at Fort Dearborn, Scott never wearied in his ministrations to the suffering men, whose brows he smoothed as they died in agony, trying with a last ga.sp to bless him for his patient and loving care. In many a campaign did this fine old hero distinguish himself, but in none did he win more fame than in this, against an enemy with whom he could not treat; in which, as he subsequently stated to John Wentworth: 'Sentinels were of no use in warning of the enemy's approach. lie could not storm his works, fortify against him, nor cut his way out. nor make terms of capitulation. There was 154 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY no respect for a flag of truce and his men were falling upon all sides from an enemy in his very midst.' "On board the ship, amidst stifling air, the dying and dead; on land, in hospital — a very pest house — everywhere, was Scott; and not until the last case had disappeared did he think of relinquishing his fatherly care of the suffering soldiers. Then, on July 29th, finding the spread of the contagion once more checked, he set out with three staff officers for Prairie du Chien following the route subsequently adopted (in 1834) as the mail route from Galena to Chicago." General Scott arrived at Dixon's on August 3rd, with his staff officers, and on the 5th left Galena on the steamboat Warrior for Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien. Two days later, August 7th, he reached the latter point, where he assumed command of the entire army. His first official act was to order the discharge of the volunteer forces, which immediately marched to the Ferry, Dodge's battalion of Wisconsin troops excepted. On the 11th, General Scott arrived at Fort Armstrong, with General Atkinson and his staff and two companies of United States Infantry, transferring the scene of the war's outcome from the upper to the lower valley of the Rock River. The crushing of Black Hawk as the most powerful leader of the hostile Indians in Northern Illinois, with the outcoming treaties, changed the status of the settlers of the Rock River Valley from that of sufferance to one of absolute security in the problems of working out their own destinies. The result was the stable increase of immigration everywhere and the founding of such communities as are now known as Dixon, Sterling, Rockford, Beloit, Belvidere, Janesville, Oregon, Grand Detour, Geneseo, and all the other col- lections of humans, with their diverse interests, up and down the valley. Within a few years from the final departure of the reds was asserted the American instinct for political organization and expansion, so that all the counties of the Rock River Valley had been created and were in operation as civil bodies. STRUCTO MANUFACTURING COMPANY'S PLANT, FREEPORT CHAPTER VII COUNTIES ORGANIZED AND STABILIZED NORTHERN ILLINOIS BOUNDARY GREAT POLITICAL DISTURBANCE — POLITICAL EVOLU- TION OF TIIK ILLINOIS ROCK RIVER VALLEY — THE BUFFALO GROVE PRECINCT — OGLE COUNTY FORMED RIVALRY BETWEEN DIXON AND OREGON THE FIRST ROCK ISLAM) COUNTY — CREATION OF OLD WINNEBAGO COUNTY — THREE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS — LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION WHITESIDE COUNTY IN THE FORM- ING LIVELY COUNTY SEAT CONTEST IN WHITESIDE — OLD AND NEW HENRY COUNTY — COUNTY SEAT CONTESTANTS — CARVING OF BOONE COUNTY FROM WIN- NEBAGO THE COUNTY NEVER HAD A COUNTY SEAT FIGHT BELVIDERE AND THE COUNTY BUILDINGS LEE COUNTY, LAST POLITICAL DIVISION OF THE VALLEY DIXON LOCATED AS THE COUNTY SEAT — LAND OFFICE MOVED FROM GALENA TO DIXON — COMMISSIONERS' GOVERNMENT ABANDONED IN ILLINOIS — ROCK COUNTY, WISCONSIN, FORMED JEFFERSON COUNTY FORMED IN 1836 DODGE COUNTY ALSO TAKEN FROM .MILWAUKEE MADISON, THE TERRITORIAL CAPITAL FOUNDED THE COUNTY OF DANE CREATED. The result of the Black Hawk war was to exclude all consideration of Indian affairs from the development of the civil and political affairs of Illinois. There- after it was a white man's country, and for more than a decade the northern sections of the State were rapidly organized into counties and other stable forms of American government. During that period the counties included in the Rock River Valley of this work assumed substantially their present forms. At the time that the Indian problem became past history in the State of Illinois, the determination of its northern boundary was still a disturbing factor in the process of civil adjustment. Although the great ability and strong influence of Nathaniel Pope had been the chief means of introducing the provision into the enabling act by which the northern boundary was ad- vanced from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan (41° 39') to 42° 30', public sentiment was divided as to whether or not the former boundary, as fixed by the Ordinance of 1787, should not prevail. The people in the lead region of Northwestern Illinois, as well as much of the northern country to Lake Michigan, were opposed to the Pope line chiefly on the ground that the extensive system of internal improvement for which the State was sponsor would greatly increase taxation. NORTHERN ILLINOIS BOUNDARY GREAT POLITICAL DISTURBANCE But notwithstanding this opposition in the north, the broader position was the prevailing attitude. Tt was that which was originally taken by Judge Pope, 155 156 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and was vigorously upheld by the Cook County region bordering Lake Mich- igan, as well as by most of the populous and progressive counties of the central and southern portions of the State. The far-seeing claim was that Illinois should have an adequate lake frontage, thus identifying it forever with the Great Lakes, as well as with the Great River ; bringing Illinois into political and commercial relations with the original units of the Northwest Territory, and making it a check to the wish for either a Western or Southern con- federacy. There was also this other appeal to State pride — that, with a harbor provided near the foot of Lake Michigan, there would necessarily grow up a great emporium, or an outlet to the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River. This prophecy was already being realized in the growth of Chicago, which had received a large accession of population during the progress of the Black Hawk war. About a week after the battle of the Bad Axe was fought, Chi- cago was incorporated as a town and five years afterward was a sturdy little municipality of more than four thousand people. The efforts of the people north of the Ordinance line and west of Lake Michigan, with the Fever River mines as the center of their activities, to create Huron Territory, fell by the wayside of "lost causes." Then in 1840 the counties of Illinois between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, north of Cook County, sent delegates to Rockford who expressed a desire to be an- nexed to Wisconsin and be erected into some political division, with Galena as its capital. In 1842, Ogle, Stephenson and Jo Daviess counties declared for union with Wisconsin by overwhelming majorities ; in Stephenson it was said to be five hundred to one. In that year Governor Doty, of Wisconsin, warned Governor Carlin, of Illinois, against making any selections of land on what, according to the people of Wisconsin, was the soil of their territory, and under the jurisdiction of Illinois only from accidental and temporary conditions. But the difficulty was solved conclusively by the action of Wisconsin's Constitutional Convention of 1847-48, which in framing the fundamental in- strument of the new state recognized the northern boundary of Illinois as fixed by the enabling act of 1818. The territory affected by this settlement of the northern boundary includes all that part of the State north of the northern line of La Salle County, and embraces the greater portion of the counties of Cook, Du Page, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Boone, DeKalb, Lee, Ogle, Winnebago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Car- roll and Whiteside, with portions of Kendall, Will and Rock Island. The only Illinois county in the Rock River Valley which was south of the line as finally determined by fixing the bounds of the new State of Wisconsin was Henry County of the present. POLITICAL EVOLUTION OP THE ILLINOIS ROCK RIVER VALLEY The order of political succession which brings this history to the time when the settlers of Rock River Valley commenced to participate in its public affah-s is thus laid down : 1. The creation of Illinois County by the Virginia House of Delegates in 1778, embracing the entire region west of the Ohio River. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 157 2. Erection of St. Clair County, by order of Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, in 17!)(), and embracing the Illinois "country" in which white settlements had been planted. 3. Madison County, set off from St. Clair in 1812, and embracing sub- stantially what is now Northern Illinois. 4. Pike County, taken from Madison County in 1821 and originally in- cluding all the country north and west of the Illinois River to the Mississippi, including the present county of Cook. 5. In 1823, Fulton County was taken from Pike and embraced the ter- ritory bordering on and west of the Illinois River; county seat, Lewistown. (i. In 1825, Putnam County was formed and included what is now Ogle; also Henry County, which embraced most of the Henry County of today, parts of Whiteside and Carroll and most of Jo Daviess. 7. Peoria was formed from Fulton in 1825. Soon afterward population in the Fever River mines commenced to increase BO rapidly that the voters yearned to be independent of Peoria County and manage their own affairs. In 1826, they were allowed to have a voting precinct near Galena called the Fever River Precinct. In the same year 204 persons were listed as taxpayers and a deputy from Peoria sent to the precinct to collect the taxes. But the miners defied the Peoria County official who re- turned down-State without any tax receipts. Then the State legislators took a hand in placating that live part of the commonwealth, which had already outstripped the Chicago district, and in February, 1827, Jo Daviess County was organized, with Galena as the seat of justice. Ten counties, in whole or in part, now comprise the territory thus included, viz., Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Ogle, Carroll, Lee, Whiteside, Bureau, Eenry, Rock Island and a fraction of Winnebago. Four years later, on June 8, 1831, the County Commissioners of Jo Daviess County took the following action : THE BUFFALO GROVE PRECINCT "It is considered that the persons residing within the following limits shall constitute voters within Buffalo Grove Precinct, viz., east of Lewistown road and south of a line to include the dwelling of Crane and Hilliard, running to the southern boundary of the county inclusive. "It is considered that John Dixon, Isaac Chambers and John Ankney be and they are hereby appointed judges of election for the Buffalo Grove Precinct. "It is ordered that the house of John Ankney be the place of voting in and for the Buffalo Grove Precinct." In these days, when a voting precinct may include a number of square blocks and several thousand people, it is instructive by comparison to know that the Buffalo Grove limits embraced what are now Ogle, Lee and eastern Carroll and Whiteside counties. There were, perhaps, thirty-five voters in this extended territory. By 1836, Oregon (Florence), Polo (St. Marian), Byron Pairview) and Grand Detour had all been founded and enough settlers located in the other townships of this mammoth precinct to warrant a petition for the formation of a new county, with a county seat nearer than Galena, seventy 158 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY miles away. It is said that the immediate occasion for the call for a separate county was the desire of John Phelps to found a town which should rival Dixon's Ferry as a prospective county seat. His large farm and homestead were three miles west of Rock River, near the central part of what is now Ogle County. He also made a claim and established a ferry where Oregon now stands. Several houses had been built at that point and the town of Florence platted. Mr. Phelps aimed to make Florence the crossing of a State road from Chicago to Galena, instead of a Peoria-Galena station, and eventually make his town the seat of a new county instead of Dixon's Ferry. OGLE COUNTY FORMED Accordingly, by an act of the Legislature approved January 16, 1836, the boundaries for a new county were defined as follows : ' ' North from the south- west corner of Town 19 north, 8 east of the Fourth Principal Meridian, to the southwest corner of Town 26 north, 8 east ; thence east to the Third Prin- cipal Meridian; thence south to the southwest corner of Town 43 north, 1 east of the Third Principal Meridian; thence east to the southeast corner of Town 43 north, 2 east; thence south to the southeast corner of Town 37 north, 2 east; thence west to the Third Principal Meridian; thence south to the south- east corner of Town 19 north, 11 east of the Fourth Principal Meridian; thence west to the beginning, shall constitute a county to be called Ogle." Governor Ford, then Judge Ford, who presided over the Northern Judicial Circuit of the State and resided at Oregon, had suggested the name Ogle in honor of Captain Joseph Ogle, a Revolutionary soldier whose bravery was particularly shown at Fort Henry, now Wheeling. Captain Ogle afterward lived in Monroe County, 111., where Thomas Ford's mother, with her family, also settled. Nearly a year elapsed before the proposed county was organized, during which period it remained a part of Jo Daviess County. The act creating Ogle County provided for the location of a seat of justice and named the commissioners who were to make the selection ; also fixed the first Monday in April, 1836, as the date for the election of the county officers. But one delay followed another and it was not until the 20th of June that two of the three commissioners named in the act met to select the county seat. They met at the house of Oliver W. Kellogg, in Buffalo Grove, and promptly traveled southeast until they reached the Rock River and Phelps' newly platted town. There they drove a stake as an indication that they had selected it as the county seat and named the place Oregon. The location was made so care- lessly that a mistake was made in the description of the quarter section, which created much subsequent litigation in the quarrels over the permanent loca- tion of the county seat. The hasty action of the commissioners raised much opposition to the claims of Oregon. RIVALRY BETWEEN DIXON AND OREGON As the date fixed by the creative act for the election of county officers had long passed, Judge Ford appointed December 24, 1836, as the election day. As the county commissioners would control the places of holding the THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 159 (•units and the erection of "suitable" county buildings, the rivalry between Dixon and Oregon centered in the choice of the commissioners. The candidates who favored Dixon were Virgil A. Bogue, of Buffalo Grove, S. St. John Mix, of Byron, and Cyrus Chamberlain, of the Grand Detour precinct. The Oregon candidates, all of whom were residents of the new town, were Isaac Rosen- crans, Ezra Bond and W. J. Mix. The popular result of the election was favorable to Dixon, Bogue and Mix receiving 98 votes each and Chamber- lain. 95; !)0 votes were cast for Bond, 89 for Rosencrans, and 87 for Mix. • la s V. Gale was elected recorder, Joseph Crawford, surveyor, W. W. Mudd, sheriff, and Ira Hill, coroner. The largest vote cast for any one candidate was 138 for Recorder Gale, and the total number of voters who participated was 188. .Mr. Gale, of Oregon, the recorder, made the following entry in his diary: '"There was great excitement at this election. All the towns were against Oregon. A large quantity of whiskey was drunk and several fights occurred. Dixon, Grand Detour, Buffalo Grove and Bloomingville (now Byron), all com- bined against Oregon. A great deal of hard feeling grew out of this election that lasted until Lee County was set off and erected into an independent county (1839). One man became so boisterous and pugilistic towards his brother that he was tied with a rope. It was the noisiest, roughest, most ex- citing election ever held in the county." As Dixon controlled the situation, the sessions of the Circuit and County courts were held in its schoolhouse. The new county was laid off into various election precincts, roads were "viewed," and licenses granted for taverns, groceries, the sale of liquor, etc. Oregon was still anxious to get the upper hand in all county affairs and the meeting of the county commissioners there did not satisfy her ambition. The opposition of the other towns was finally transformed into efforts not to snatch the county seat from Oregon, but to secure the formation of a new county with Dixon as its seat of justice. The feud between Oregon and Dixon extended even to the women and children. To illustrate the situation, Stevens says in his history of Lee County: "The story is told to the effect that one day John Phelps had come to Dixon on business. Father Dixon kept the only tavern in the place. Phelps was hungry. Father Dixon was absent, but just the same Phelps did not want to enter; but he had to. During the meal, Mrs. Dixon is reported as remarking to Phelps: 'It is a good thing for you, Mr. Phelps, that Mr. Dixon is not home today, for, if he was, you would get hurt. There would be a fuss.' "To which Mr. Phelps is reported as replying, 'It is a good thing for Mr. Dixon, Madam, that he is not at home, for if he was he surely would be hurt. I was bom in a fuss and nothing pleases me better than to be engaged in a fuss. ' "There may be considerable improbability about this story, but, as a mat- ter of fact, the climax which brought matters to a focus was enacted in Galena. While there, Phelps discovered the plans of Mr. Dixon by reading a posted notice to the effect that at the next session of the Legislature a bill would be introduced for the formation of a new county which would include Oregon on its northernmost line. Immediately Phelps posted other notices to the effect that ;it the next meeting of the Legislature he would apply for a division of the countv whose south line would include Dixon on its extreme southern 160 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY limit. At once, Mr. Dixon sought Phelps and the agreement was made that an equitable division should be made which would give to Oregon the county seat of Ogle and to Dixon, the seat of the new county." THE FIRST BOCK ISLAND COUNTY In the meantime, various other strips had been carved from the original body of Jo Daviess County, both from the northeast and the southwest. The first, Rock Island County, was formed by legislative act of February 9, 1831. At that time, Black Hawk and his warriors were in ferment, although the Sauk had not formally broken bounds and ventured into the country east of the Mississippi ; but in the spring after the creation of the county, and while it was still attached to Jo Daviess for judicial purposes, Black Hawk performed his act of aggression in crossing the Mississippi and the State and the United States combined to suppress him and his followers. Rock Island was the rendezvous for the military forces which were to move up the Rock River Valley after the fugitive Indians. Until several months after the conclusion of hostilities, the civil matters of the created but not organized county were held in abeyance. In 1833, by act of the General Assembly, the bounds of Rock Island County were thus defined: Beginning in the channel of the Mississippi River on the north line of Township 15 north and west of the Fourth Principal Meridian; thence running eastwardly on said line to the Fourth Principal Meridian ; thence north to the middle of the channel of Rock River; thence up the middle of the channel of said river to the Marais d 'Osier slough ; thence along the middle of said slough to the middle of the channel of the Mississippi River; thence down along the middle of said channel to the place of beginning. The act fixing the boundaries of the county provided for its organization. Notice was given that the voters meet at the house of John Barrel, in Farn- hamsburg, on Monday, July 5, 1833, for the purpose of selecting three county commissioners, a sheriff, a coroner, three justices of the peace and three con- stables. The election was duly held and the sixty-five voters cast their ballots with more or less regularity. The following officers were selected : George Davenport, John W. Spencer, and George W. Harlan, county commissioners: Benjamin F. Pike, sheriff; Levi Wells, coroner; George W. Harlan, J. B. Pat- terson and Joel Wells, Jr., justices of the peace; George V. Miller, Hunt- ington Wells and Edward Corbin, constables. "At this election," says Robert W. Olmsted in a history of Rock Island issued by the Munsell Publishing Company, "there were two tickets, one rep- resenting a settlement on the island (Farnhamsburg) and the other the Hamp- ton settlement (on the mainland). An incident occurred upon this occasion which might have ended disastrously. An arrangement was made by which Mr. Davenport, representing the Island parties, was to signal certain persons upon the island should their votes be needed. Believing it necessary that they should vote, Mr. Davenport took his handkerchief and made the required signal. He was discovered by the Hampton party, who misunderstood it, thinking it to be a signal to the officers and soldiers of the fort to come to the aid of the Davenport party. They determined at once to frustrate such an attempt by forcibly seizing the polls. The clerks of election (Joseph Conway and W. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 161 Thompson), apprised of their intention, substituted other blanks for those they had made. The substitute was seized by the Hampton party, who mounted their horses and rode hastily away, followed by some of the Island party anx- ious to overtake them. When out of sight, the regular poll book was produced by the clerks and election continued, the Island party arriving and depositing their votes, thus electing their candidates." The commissioners-elect met on July 8, 1833, at the Barrel house, Farnhams- burg, and after taking the oath of office appointed Joseph Conway clerk of their court. The bonds of the various officers were approved and Joseph Wells, Sr., was appointed treasurer and assessor. The county was now fully organized and ready for business, and three years afterward the original terri- tory of Jo Daviess County was to be carved into five other political sections, of which three of the counties were in the Rock River valley. On the 16th of January, 1836, a legislative act was approved and went into force which provided for the organization of McHenry, Kane, Winnebago, Ogle and Whiteside. The succession leading to the organization of Ogle County has already been traced. That portion of Winnebago County west of the Third Principal Meridian was taken from Jo Daviess County ; the portion east of that line, from La Salle County. The northern and southern boundaries were the ^;nne as at present. From east to west, the territory of Winnebago county included nearly twice its area of today, embracing all of Boone County and the eastern two township ranges of Stephenson County. CREATION OF OLD WINNEBAGO COUNTY The legal description of Winnebago County, as defined by the act of 1836, was as follows: Commencing at the southeast corner of township 43, range 4, east of the Third Principal Meridian, and running thence west to said meridian; thence north along the line of said meridian to the southeast corner of town- ship 26, in range 11, east of the Fourth Principal Meridian ; thence west to the dividing line between ranges 7 and 8 ; thence north along said line to the northern boundary of the State; thence east along said boundary line to the northeast corner of Range 4, east of the Third Principal Meridian; thence south to the place of beginning. No county created by the act of January 16, 1836, was to be civilly organized until a majority of the voters residing in the territory of the proposed county had addressed a petition to the judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, or, in the absence of Judge Ford, to another circuit judge, requesting authority to take such action. Before it could be granted, the voters must furnish proof that there were 350 white inhabitants in the proposed county. Dr. Daniel H. Whit- ney, of Belvidere, canvassed the territory and by a diligent search discovered the required number of inhabitants and furnished the proofs thereof to Judge Ford. Therefore, on July 15, 1836, the incumbent of the Sixth Judicial Circuit issued an order for an election to be held at the house of Daniel S. Haight on the first .Monday in August. This order issued by Judge Ford taking the first step in the creation of the body politic of Winnebago County has been framed and is still preserved (?) in the office of the circuit clerk. 162 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY East and West Rockford were already in the making. Germanicus Kent, an Alabaman, and Thatcher Blake, a Maine Yankee, had wandered from Galena, made their claims on the west side of Rock River and were busy promoting a settlement at that point. A little later had come Daniel S. Haight, a New Yorker and an early settler of Kane County in the Geneva region. He had become the father of the east settlement. Haig-htville and Kentville were the only rivals at that time for county seat honors. Besides this stirring matter to be decided, was the election of the county officers, two representatives for the State Legislature and a member of Congress. This was a day, "big with events" for Winnebago County, and as the occa- sion has been well analyzed by the late Charles A. Church, his story is here borrowed: "The election was held on Monday, August 1, 1836, in a decidedly primitive manner. Written or printed ballots had not then been introduced into Illinois. Under the old constitution, all votes were to be given viva voce until otherwise provided by the General Assembly ; and up to this time no change had been made. This method kept the interest at a high pitch, and enabled the voters to tell at any moment the relative strength of the several candidates. It is a gigantic stride from the viva voce system of 1836 to the Australian ballot of today. At that time there was not a copy of the Illinois statutes in the county to direct the judges of election (Germanicus Kent, Joseph P. Griggs and Robert J. Cross) in the discharge of their duties. Mr. Kent, however, knew something of the election laws of Virginia and Alabama ; Robert J. Cross was familiar with those of New York and Michigan and Mr. Griggs was acquainted with the laws of Ohio. The election, therefore, was not allowed to go by default for so slight a cause as ignorance of the laws of their adopted State. "D. A. Spaulding had some acquaintance with the laws of Illinois, and he was made one of the clerks of election and entrusted with the duty of making the poll books. Simon P. Doty, Thomas B. Talcott and William E. Dunbar were elected county commissioners ; Daniel S. Haight, sheriff ; Daniel H. Whit- ney, recorder; Eliphalet Gregory, coroner; D. A. Spaulding, surveyor. There were 120 votes cast at the election." THREE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS At the time of the election in 1836, the State had been divided into three congressional districts. The Third District, which included Winnebago, extended from the Wisconsin boundary to a line below Springfield, and entirely across the State from east to west. At the election named, William L. May, the democratic candidate for Congress received seventy-three votes in Winnebago County and John T. Stuart, the whig, forty-four. The home of the congress- man-elect was in Springfield. He was elected to complete the term of Joseph Duncan, resigned. LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION Previous to 1840, the senatorial district of which Winnebago County formed a part, included the entire Rock River Valley, as well as a large tract below THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 163 the mouth of the Bock River. This vast area extending from Dubuque almost to St. Louis, gauged by the territory west of the Mississippi, was entitled to one senator and two representatives in the Legislature. At the general election of 1836, Winnebago County was attached politically to Jo Daviess. A. G. S. Wriirlit was elected senator and Elijah Charles and James Craig, representa- tives. WHITESIDE COUNTY IN THE FORMING The act of January 16, 1836, by which Whiteside was carved from the west- ern portions of old Jo Daviess County, defines the bounds of the new county as at present constituted, viz.: "All the tract of country within the following boundary, to-wit : Commencing at the southeast corner of township 19, north of range 7 east of the Fourth Principal Meridian; thence west with the said township line to Rock River; thence down the middle of Rock River to the middle of the Meredosia with the line of Rock Island County to the Mississippi River; thence along the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River to the point where the north line of township 22 intersects the same; thence east with said last mentioned township line to the southeast corner of township 23 ; thence south with the line between ranges 7 and 8 to the point of beginning, shall constitute a county to be called Whiteside." The county honored the name of General Samuel Whiteside, the famous fig liter and subsequently citizen of civil prominence. During the first year of the Civil war, the General died near the home of his daughter in Christian County, Illinois. The creative act provided that until the county should be organized it should be attached to Jo Daviess for election purposes and, upon the organiza- tion of Ogle County, to the latter,, for judicial and county purposes. The latter provision was carried out upon the full organization of Ogle County in Dec em - ber, 1836. LIVELY COUNTY SEAT CONTEST IN WHITESIDE It was not until May 6, 1839, that Whiteside elected its first county officers, and thus severed its connection with Ogle County. It was then divided into Albany, Elkhorn, Fulton, Genesee, Little Rock, Portland and Union Grove precincts. At this first election a vote was also taken to determine the loca- tion for a seat of justice of the new county, but none of the candidates re- ceived ;i majority of the ballots east, and four more elections were held before the following September. Then Lyndon was declared the "permanent county seal " by the two justices of the peace named in the act for making such deci- sion. The town thus designated was admirably located nearly in the center of the county, a short distance beyond Prophetstown, on the north shores of Rock River, with a fine water power at its disposal. It was for years one of the most promising points in the valley. A little courthouse one and a half stories high was erected for court, county and public purposes, and Lyndon remained the county seat until June, 1841, when the honors were transferred to Sterling, also on Rock River, but in the eastern part of the county. The proprietors of the Town of Sterling had made rather generous offers Vol. I— 11 164 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY to the county commissioners as an inducement to secure the location — sixty acres of land and $1,000 to each of the commissioners for county purposes — and in 1840 the champions of the town farther up the river applied to the County Commissioners' Court for a recanvass of the vote by which Lyndon claimed to be the seat of justice. The application was granted. The votes of one of the precincts in the final canvass of 1839 had been rejected as illegal, which had given the county seat to Lyndon. In February, 1840, a commissioner was elected whose vote gave Sterling a majority in the court; in the recanvass which was ordered the rejected precinct was counted, with the result that Lyndon received only 253 votes as against 264 cast for Sterling. Announce- ment to that effect was made by the county commissioners April 8, 1841, and a month later they commenced to meet at the new seat of justice. But in the fall of 1842 Lyndon again had a majority of the County Commissioners' Court, resumed its county seat honors and in December was holding its sessions there. The 1843 General Assembly reopened the question, and appointed G. W. Harri- son and John McDonald, of Jo Daviess County, Joshua Harper, of Henry County, Leonard Andrus of Ogle County and R. H. Spicer of Mercer County, as commissioners to locate the seat of justice of Whiteside. According to the provisions of the act under which they received their authority, Messrs. Harper, Andrus and Spicer met at the Town of Albany, Whiteside County, to examine the different locations, and again decided upon Lyndon. As also required by the act, Lyndon donated forty acres of land for public purposes, but no county buildings were erected on the tract, and the county seat question was still unsolved. Then, on April 14, 1846, the county commissioners entered an order that the grand and petit jurors elected at their March term should attend the May term of the Circuit Court at Sterling, instead of Lyndon, as the public build- ings erected at the former place had been accepted and none had been pro- vided at Lyndon. A compromise was effected by which the terms of the Circuit Court were held at Sterling and the county commissioners held their sessions at Lyndon. Then the fight became merrier than ever. Lyndon was determined not to yield to the order of the commissioners without a struggle, and, through two of her citizens, applied for a mandamus compelling the commissioners to relocate the headquarters of the Circuit Court in their town; at the county seat last selected under authority of the Legislature of the State. The Court refused to grant the writ on the ground that the buildings used for county purposes at Lyndon were not upon the ground donated for that purpose, as required bv statute. Sterling made the next move. The result was the passage of an act by the General Assembly, approved in February, 1847, making Sterling the county seat until the county should pay that town for the lands and money donated as an inducement to locate the seat of justice there. The county seat was therefore again moved to Sterling, the first meeting of the commissioners being held in September of that year. The courthouse at Sterling had been finished and furnished for county and judicial purposes, so that comfortable and convenient quarters were afforded to all having business with the county or the courts. But as no steps were taken by the county to reimburse the Town of Sterling, the arrangement was still a temporary matter. THE ROCK RIVER V AT/LEY 165 Lyndon therefore took the offensive in 1849. On February 6th of that year, another legislative act was approved to "permanently" locate the seat of justice of Whiteside County. It provided for an election on the first Tuesday in April, 1849, to determine whether the permanent county seat should be at Lyndon or Sterling, "the latter place being the then temporary seat of justice." Lyndon, through its citizens, James M. Pratt and Augustine Smith, offered to donate fifty acres, and the town, as a body, $1,432 in cash, for county purposes. The election was held according to the provisions of the act and resulted in the eleven precincts casting a vote of 519 for Sterling and 451 for Lyndon; majority of 68 for Sterling. The main strength of Lyndon's support came from the precinct in which the town was situated and the adjoining precincts of Prophets- town and Portland to the southwest, while Sterling drew from its own imme- diate territory to the northeast, as well as from Union Grove, Albany and Round Grove precincts, in the western and northwestern portions of the county. For eight years, Sterling remained undisturbed as the county seat of "White- side. In the meantime, a new rival had appeared in the field, and, since the railroads of Illinois were up and going, it was no longer necessary that its seat of justice should be located on Rock River. The Chicago & North "Western line had been pushed through Northern Illinois and the Town of Morrison sur- veyed and platted as a growing station. In October, 1855, the young town welcomed its first railroad train, and within two years the future of Morrison was assured. At the general election of November 3, 1857, the voters of Whiteside County were required to express their wish as to the removal of the county seat from Sterling to Morrison. It was provided in the act of the General Assembly calling for such expression that the removal should not take place until the Town of Morrison had deeded a tract of land in section 18, not less than three hundred feet square, as a site for county buildings, and also paid to the county the sum of $3,000 to be applied toward paying for their erection. The result of the election was close, the majority in favor of removal to Morrison being only 59. For removal, the votes numbered 1,631 ; against, 1,572. All the conditions having been complied with, the county offices were moved to Morrison on the 3d of May, 1858, thus concluding a contest which had ebbed and flowed, with more or less commotion, for a period of twenty years. OLD AND NEW HENRY COUNTY The commotion in the lower valley of the Rock River was noticeable outside of Rock Island and Whiteside counties. Much of it centered in the territory which was gradually reduced to the Henry County of today. Old Henry County was created by an act of the General Assembly approved January 13, 1825, which also brought into political being Knox, Peoria, Putnam, Schuyler and Warren counties. The Henry County of that year embraced what is now most of Henry, part of Whiteside, part of Carroll and most of Jo Daviess counties. Its territory was taken from both Pike and Fulton counties. In 1826, a voting precinct was established at Galena by the County Commissioners' Court of Henry County and called the Fever River Precinct. This was the first election precinct in Northwestern Illinois. In 1827 the Galena settlement 166 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY had sufficient population to warrant a petition to the General Assembly pray- ing for separate county organization with Galena as the seat of justice. This was granted by forming Jo Daviess County the territory of which in the Rock River Valley was subdivided toward the east and south. Henry County was attached to B\ilton for judicial purposes in 1831. Its northern and northwestern boundaries were defined by the Rock River in 1835 and in the following year, by the establishment of the limits of Whiteside County, it assumed its present form and area. In June, 1837, the county com- missioners first met at Dayton and in October a committee was appointed to locate the seat of justice. Besides Dayton, were Andover, Geneseo, Morristown, Ford and Richmond — all, perhaps, worthy of consideration; but, as is often the case, politics played the leading role in the selection. It seems that the year before, James M. Allan laid his plans to locate a county seat near the geographical center of the political division which had honored the hero of the Black Hawk war. Mr. Allan therefore mounted his horse and rode until he found an established corner in Sugar Tree Grove and from that point, guided by a pocket compass, traveled due north, counting the steps of his horse until he reached, as he supposed, section 17, township 16 north, 3 east, about five miles from where he started ; and this led him into a rise in the middle of a beautiful prairie. He had made no error in his meas- urement and he afterward entered the southeast quarter of section 17. There he staked out a town which he called Richmond, and which was henceforth a standing candidate for the county seat. i COUNTY SEAT CONTESTANTS As required, the commissioners to locate the seat of justice met at Richmond and viewed the different sites. Major Allan won, in pugilistic parlance, with "his hands down." He deeded 120 acres of his section to the county; also three lots to George Harris provided he erect a hotel on the site by June 1st. Mr. Harris was also to build a courthouse, 18 by 24 feet, one and a half stories in height. It burned before it was completed and the Harris house was used both for court and jail. The first Circuit Court for Henry County commenced its session in April, 1839, with Thomas Ford presiding and James M. Allan, clerk. Finally, nothing was left of Richmond except a straw-covered stable, and at a meeting of the commissioners held in Andover, a short distance southwest of the present Cambridge, it was resolved to change the location of the county seat. Geneseo then became the temporary seat of justice, although the County Court held one session at the Richmond stable. After the Legislature had legalized the acts passed at Geneseo, it passed a measure to formally relocate the county seat. The contest was between Morristown and Geneseo, the former being an easy victor. Geneseo offered its fair grounds and buildings to be transformed into county property, while Morristown proposed to give an entire quarter section and one thousand dollars in cash as inducements for the loca- tion. Morristown also stipulated that a public house should be erected out of the fund arising from her donations, and that all colonists who bought lots should erect houses. The latter proviso brought little practical result and only THE BOCK RIVER VALLEY 167 three or four houses were built. That Geneseo's defeat mighl be smoothed, the Circuit Court was allowed to meet there until the fall of 1841. At its completion, the public house at Morristown was conveyed to the ( (unit y and used for court and public purposes for two years, or until the court- bouse was finished. That structure was 18 by 24 feet on the ground, and a story and a half, above; but those were the days of little and slow things. Now Judge Joseph Tillson had started a settlement at Sugar Creek Grove, prettily located and situated almost in the geographical center of the county. In the winter of 1843, he forwarded a bill to Colonel Buford, of Rock Island, who represented the senatorial district in the Legislature, to relocate the seat of justice of Henry County. Joshua Harper represented the interests of the new claimant for the county seat in the lower house. On February 21, 1843, the bill passed both houses of the Legislature providing as a site for that pur- pose, eighty acres of section 7, township 15, 3 east — forty acres from the north- west quarter and another forty from the southwest quarter. The bill also stipulated that the courts should be held at Morristown until buildings couM be provided at the new location. In June, 1843, Judge Tillson, who came of an old Massachusetts family, surveyed and platted the new county seat under the name of Cambridge; and rs these were also the days of close economy certain thrifty citizens made the proposition to move the little courthouse at Morristown, still incomplete, to the Cambridge site. The citizens of Cambridge were to have the building and furnish a court room in it until more permanent quarters could be provided. The courthouse was moved without much difficulty or any startling event on the 5th of September, 1843, and used for county purposes for nearly two years, or until the new building was completed in July, 1845. With the growth of the county, a more commodious structure was required for county purposes, and, for many years, the second courthouse was used for educational purposes, as a town hall and a community church. Cambridge has remained the county seat since 1843, and that year marks the establishment of Henry County as it is known today. CARVING OF BOONE COUNTY FROM WINNEBAGO The next developments in county division and organization relate to the upper portion of the Rock River Valley, and include the carving of Boone County from Winnebago and the formation of Lee from Ogle. The legislative act of March 4, 1837, provided for the reorganization of Winnebago County (erected January 16, 1836), and the creation of Stephenson and Boone. The first section of the act creates Stephenson County from the eastern portion of Jo Daviess and the western two ranges of Winnebago. The third section defined the boundaries of Boone County as they now exist, except the mile vtrip on the west. This reads as follows: "Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, that all that tract of country beginning at the northeast corner of township 46 north, range 4 east ; thence south with the line dividing ranges 4 and 5 east, to the southwest corner of township 43 north ; thence west on said line to the southeast corner of Winne- bago County; thence north to the place of beginning on the north boundary 168 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of the State, shall form a county to be called Boone, in honor of Colonel Daniel Boone, the first settler of the State of Kentucky. Thus established, Boone County was eleven miles wide (east to west) and twenty-four miles long (north to south). The strip of country a mile wide to the eastern boundary of Winne- bago was claimed by Boone, on the ground of errors made in the records of the Government surveys. Whatever the merits of the case between Winnebago and Boone counties, the General Assembly passed an act which was approved February 28, 1843, and was designed to settle the dispute and purge away much bitterness which had arisen as a result of it. The measure noted provided for an election to be held at the house of Sam- uel Keith, in the village of Newburg, Winnebago County, on the succeeding 4th of May, to determine the question of annexation to Boone County. Only those could vote who resided in the disputed strip. "As the day of election drew nigh," says a history of Boone County published in 1877, "the interest, especially among the people of Belvidere (the seat of justice), grew in intensity. Every man of influence, character and intelligence, that could be available in any way, was sent over to work among the settlers on the strip. Those of the Winnebago people who were unfriendly to the annexation scheme were equally earnest in their efforts. 'Noses were counted,' and so equally divided did the settlers seem to be that neither party felt assured of success. The drift of public sentiment among the settlers on the strip, however, seemed to settle toward Boone County, and thus imbued the Belvidere people with renewed energy. Argument, entreaty, figures, advantages and every sort of inducement, were held out to the settlers. Finally the day that was to decide the issue came. Every settler entitled to vote was brought out. When the polls were declared closed and the ballots counted, the tally sheet showed that 95 votes had been cast, of which 51 votes were for annexation to Boone County and 44 votes against — a majority of 7 in favor of annexation." The result of this election fixed the area of Boone County as it now is. Both before and after 1843, efforts were made to extend her eastern boundaries at the expense of McHenry County, but they were of no avail. The chief excitement in the early years of Boone County as a political body was over the western mile strip which was especially claimed by the little settle- ment and pioneer postoffice on the Chicago & Galena stage route on the banks of the Kishwaukee River. It had been platted and mills built by the Belvidere Company and was the only town of any promise in the unorganized county of Boone. Before its first election occurred it was attached to Jo Daviess County and was all included in the precinct of Belvidere. The act of 1837 which created Boone County provided that an election for its first set of officers should be held at the house of Simon P. Doty, one of the organizers of the Belvidere Company and a founder of the town, on the first Monday of May, 1837. In those days voters literally spoke their minds, as there were no printed or written ballots. The polls were opened in Mr. Doty's house at the appointed hour and the preferences of the voters were duly recorded until evening. Result of the election : Milton S. Mason, Cornelius Cline and John Q. A. Rollins, chosen county commissioners; Simon P. Doty, sheriff; John Handy, coroner; Seth S. Whitman, recorder; S. P. Hyde, county surveyor. On the 3d of May, THE EtOCK RIVEE VALLEY 169 .Mr. Mason administered the oath of office to Messrs. Cline and Rollins, and Mr. Rollins did the same favor for Mr. Mason. Dr. Daniel H. Whitney qualified as clerk of the Commissioners' Court and the transaction of county business commenced. Boone County was thus organized and became independent of Jo Daviess for all time. Belvidere precinct was divided, the four north town- ahipa of the county being formed into Lambertsburg precinct. The new pre- cinct took its name from the brothers, James B. and Jeremiah Lambert, who had taken claims in what is now Leroy Township. To further organize the county, and place it on a working basis, John K. Towner was appointed county treasurer; Benjamin Sweet, school commissioner and agent, and Erastus A. Xixon, David Caswell and George D. Hicks, trustees of the congressional school lands. The erection of road districts and the appointment of road supervisors were next in the order of business transacted on this memorable May 3, 1837. It was also ordered that all county roads should be "opened fifty feet in the clear and that each able bodied man should work on some road five days in each year." The Court of County Commissioners then adjoined sine die. Thus it may be assumed that the history of Boone County, as an organized body dates from the 3d of May, 1837, or less than two years from the founding of the first white settlements at Belvidere and Shattuck's Grove in what are now Belvidere and Spring townships, in the summer of 1835. When Simon P. Doty and Dr. Daniel H. Whitney arrived in the Belvidere region in August of that year they found Archibald Metcalf and David Dunham encamped in a shanty on the west bank of the Kishwaukee (Sycamore), about eighty rods below where the State Street bridge in Belvidere now spans that stream. BOOXE COUNTY NEVER HAD A COUNTY SEAT FIGHT Boone County missed the excitement of having a county seat fight, since Belvidere never had a competitor. The County Commissioners' Court con- tinned to sit at Mr. Doty's house. It held a special session on the 6th of November to receive the report of the commissioners appointed by the Legis- lature to permanently locate the county seat. Two of the three named in the creative act for that purpose, James II. Woodworth, of Cook County, and John M. Wilson, of Will County, had made the required investigations, and reported: "Be it known, that we, James H. Woodworth and John M. Wilson, commissioners appointed to locate the County Seat of Boone County in the State of Illinois, under an act entitled an Act to create certain counties therein named, approved 4th of March, A. D., 1837, being duly sworn, did on the (31) thirty-first day of October, A. D., 1837, proceed to examine and determine on a place for the permanent seat of justice for said county, and taking into view the convenience of the inhabitants, the situation of the settlements, the probable future population and eligibility of location, have and do locate said county seat upon the northeast quarter of section 26, in township 44 north, range 3 east of the Third Principal Meridian, being in the Galena Land District." The Belvidere Company had platted the southeast quarter of section 26 into town lots, in 1836, three years before they were placed on the market. It was not until 1839, therefore, that settlers could get clear titles to their 170 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY real estate, and that the county commissioners could receive deeds from the owners for the northeast quarter of section 26 which had been selected as the seat of justice. An illustration of how jealously the pioneers of Boone County guarded the observance of the law is afforded in the preliminary steps leading to the final establishment of the county seat with the cumulative conveniences de- manded by public officials. The commissioners locating the seat of justice designated where the county seat should be on the land selected, by driving a stake in the ground on the mound where the courthouse has since been built. The laws then in force required all county offices to be kept within a quarter of a mile of the seat of justice. In December, 1838, it was discovered that Daniel H. Whitney, the county clerk, kept his office more than a quarter of a mile from the stake, and the commissioners declared his office vacant. James L. Loop, Whitney's successor, gave bonds in the sum of $1,000 and entered upon the discharge of his duties. In the meantime, Mr. Whitney's deputy had taken the records of the court. He was therefore judged in contempt and ordered to pay a fine of $25, standing committed until the fine was paid. A warrant of commitment was made out and placed in the hands of the sheriff, to be executed if the fine was not paid. A writ of replevin was also sued out to procure the books, records and papers "contemptuously" carried away, and also placed in the hands of the sheriff to be executed. The writ was served and the documents recovered and returned to court. On the 7th of December, Mr. Briggs, the offending deputy, by S. P. Doty, his rep- resentative, appeared before the court and confessed that he was too hasty in committing the contempt of the previous day ; whereupon the court ordered that one-half of the fine be remitted. The other half ($12.50) was paid by Mr. Doty; and thus subsided the first little ripple in the proceedings of the Commissioners' Court for the County of Boone. BELVIDERE AND THE COUNTY BUILDINGS The seat of justice of Boone County having been located and its first set of officials put in motion its civil, judicial and political machinery, the quarter section selected and donated by the Belvidere Company was surveyed into lots and blocks. A plot of ten acres was reserved on the highest point for county buildings. Daniel H. Whitney was appointed the commissioner to sell the remainder of the quarter section for the benefit of the county. At the December meeting of the County Commissioners' Court, Mr. Whitney reported that after advertising in the Chicago Democrat and American and posting written notices at Belvidere and other public places, giving notice of such sale, he had, on the 27th of that month sold lots to the amount of $364.75, and on the 28th adjourned the sales indefinitely, as the business had not met his expectations. Before making the report, he had sold a lot for $30 at private sale, making the total amount realized, $394.75. The sales made were for part cash and balance on time; usually one-third or one-half cash, and the balance in periods ranging from six months to two years; with mortgage on premises, or other satisfactory security, and interest THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 171 on deferred payments. And thus, from time to time, the lots belonging to the county continued to be sold and the proceeds applied to public matters. In April, 1838, the commissioners convened in special session and ordered ih.it the clerk advertise for proposals to be received until the first .Monday in . I une for the erection of a courthouse "forty by fifty feet with a basement story of stone, the basement story to be finished one-half for a jail, the other half into a room for a family; the first story to be finished with three offices and a hall and one room for a family's occupancy; the second story to be finished with a court room and two jury rooms; the house, when finished, to lie worth five or six thousand dollars." Proposals were also to be received until the first Monday in June, "for the purchase in whole or in part of the county lands, and payment to be made by the erection of the courthouse, or the furnishing of materials for the same, or erecting anj 1- portion of the same." But the building of the courthouse was to be a process of slow growth. The financial panic of 1837 was already laying heavy hands on Boone County. Money had to be borrowed to meet running expenses. Still some place had to be provided to keep such criminals as were sentenced to confinement, and a temporary' county jail was provided in the north room of the Doty house. It was to be used for that purpose until Mr. Doty could erect a county jail. It was completed according to contract, within the four months following June, 1838, for $250. It was a block jail, and was not accepted by the com- missioner until 1839. The room in Mr. Doty's residence was then vacated and the keys to the regular receptacle for criminals handed over to the sheriff, who was directed to procure "two sets of shackles for hands, and put in a ring, bolt and chain for the use of said jail." Soon afterward such furnishings were brought into play by the incarceration of two horse thieves in the block jail. Contracts were let for work and various materials in the building of the courthouse in 1839 and 1840, and when all was in readiness to commence its foundation it was found that the jail erected by Doty had been built on the site intended for the courthouse. The smaller building was therefore moved out of the way. It was not until 1843, however, that the courthouse was completed. The two-story brick courthouse, only forty feet in length by thirty in width, with its court room above and county offices below, was outgrown in ten years. Although the material in the old courthouse was used in the one completed in 1855, the later structure w^as much more commodious and in keeping with the expansion of the county and its interests. Boone County was among the first counties in the State to abandon the County Commissioners form of government, and adopt the Township Organiza- tion system. This was determined by virtue of a provision contained in the State Constitution of 1847. Under the township system, each township elected a supervisor, the entire body being the Board of Supervisors. Thus Boone County has been substantially traced to its permanent establishment as a political body. LEE COUNTY, LAST POLITICAL DIVISION OF THE VALLEY As an offshoot of Ogle in 1839, Lee County was the last of the political divi- sions to assume form in the Rock River Valley. Its creative act was approved 172 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY on February 27th of that year, and the county boundaries were defined as fol- lows: All that part of Ogle County lying south of a line beginning on the western boundary of Ogle County at the northwest corner of section 18, in township 22, north of range 8, between sections 7 and 18, in said township, east, to the main channel of Rock River; thence up the center of said channel to the section line between sections 12 and 13, in township 22 north of range 9, east of the Fourth Principal Meridian; thence east with the last mentioned section line to the northeast corner of section 17, in township 22 north of range 10, east of the Fourth Principal Meridian ; thence south to the southeast corner of the last mentioned section ; and thence east with the section lines to the eastern boundary of the county, shall constitute the County of Lee. The act also appointed as commissioners to locate the seat of justice, Lorin G. Butler of Cook County, E. H. Nichols of "Whiteside and D. G. Salsbury of Bureau, the selection to be made as near the first Monday in May as was pos- sible. The owners of the site selected were to pay to the county commissioners $3,500 and also donate twenty acres of land. Until public buildings were erected, the courts of the counties of Ogle and Lee were to be held at such places in their respective county seats as the county commissioners should direct. The election for officers of the new county was fixed for the first Monday in August, 1839, the returns to be made by the judges of election to the clerk of the County Commissioners' Court of Ogle County. Until after such election, the county of Lee was attached to Ogle for county purposes and to Jo Daviess County, for its representation in both houses of the Legislature until the next apportionment of the State should be made. The erection of Lee County was caused by the rivalries of the various towns for the location of the county seat in Ogle County, especially by the rivalry of its two strongest men, John Phelps of Oregon City and John Dixon of Dixon's Ferry. Frederick R. Dutcher, a New York lawyer lately arrived at Dixon, was selected by the supporters of that place to engineer the bill through the Legisla- ture setting off another county from the southern portion of Ogle. Smith Gilbraith, who had bought property in Dixon three or four years before, also accompanied Mr. Dutcher to Vandalia to present the petition of the Dixon con- tingent. When they arrived at the State capital, they found Virgil A. Bogue on the ground armed with a remonstrance signed by the citizens of Buffalo Grove and Grand Detour. Judge Bogue, however, had not secured a full list of signatures to his remonstrance, and was anxiously looking for other papers from home which would give the remonstrators a large majority over the peti- tioners. The Dixon gentlemen knew if Judge Bogue got in the full list of signa- tures to his remonstrance that their cause would be defeated ; and to forestall this Mr. Gilbraith perpetrated what has been pronounced by politicians ' ' a very shrewd piece of business." He presented himself at the postoffice on the arrival of the mail from the north and inquired of the postman, "Anything for Bogue?'* A package was handed over, which went down into the greatcoat pocket of Mr. Gilbraith, and Judge Bogue anxiously looked for the desired documents in vain. What made the situation of the remonstrators more serious was that there was not sufficient time to get duplicates of the missing lists before the adjournment of the Legislature. Nothing was left for Judge Bogue but to present the case for his constituents with his well known powers of persuasion. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 173 Now, there was a strong anti-abolition sentiment in the Legislature, and the Judge was a fiery abolitionist. Messrs. Dutcher and Gilbraith therefore warmly encouraged him to deliver an abolition speech on a certain evening, to which the members of the General Assembly were invited. As designed, the effect was to alienate the sympathy of anti-abolitionists from the orator and the special cause which he represented — opposition to county division. This gave the situation to the petitioners and resulted in the passage of the bill of Feb- ruary 27, 1839, creating Lee County. Mr. Dutcher is credited with naming the new county in honor of Light Horse Harry Lee of Revolutionary fame, of whom he was a great admirer. DIXON LOCATED AS THE COUNTY SEAT On the 21st of May, 1839, the commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice reported that "having due regard to the settlements and convenience of the present and future population of said County of Lee, do hereby locate the seat of justice for the aforesaid county at the town of Dixon ; and have .stuck the stake for the place or point at which the public buildings shall be erected on the quarter section composed of the west V2 of the northwest 14 of sec- tion 4, township 21, range 9 east of the Fourth Principal Meridian, and the east 14 of the northeast ^4 of section 5, same township and range aforesaid. And we further report that the proprietors and owners of lots in the aforesaid town of Dixon have executed certain bonds guaranteeing the payment of $6,460, which is exclusive of $150 signed by Messrs. Gilbraith, AYilkinson and Dement, which is embraced and included in a bond of $3,000, and included above; also one bond for a deed of eighty acres of land adjoining said town of Dixon. All of which is respectfully submitted to the County Commissioners' Court of Lee County." It was the general expectation that Dixon would be selected as the county seat. Nevertheless, it was with a feeling of relief that the matter had been settled so smoothly, and that it would not be necessary to be vexed with the dis- turbing and aggravating quarrels over such location which in some of the other counties did not subside for years. Under the act creating the county, its first election was fixed on the first Monday in August, 1839, and resulted in the choice of the following: County commissioners, Charles F. Ingals, of Inlet, Nathan R. Whitney of Franklin Grove and James P. Dixon of Dixon; clerk of Commissioners' Court, Isaac Boardman ; sheriff, Aaron Wakely ; county surveyor, Joseph Crawford ; probate justice, H. Morgan; recorder, G. W. Chase. The county commissioners held their first session in the Dixon schoolhouse, but as only two members of the court were present an adjournment was taken to the following Monday. Then the third member, James P. Dixon, reported and was sworn into office. The other two members of the County Commissioners' Court, with the remainder of the county officers, had been inducted into office. The term of the commissioners covered three years and that one of them, after the first election, might be chosen annually, Mr. Ingals was allotted the three years' service, Mr. Dixon the two years' and Mr. Whitney, the one year. At the second, or adjourned session of the County Commissioners' Court, 174 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the county was divided into six election precincts. At a special session which was held in October, 1839, an election was ordered for justices of the peace and constables, and the clerk directed to give public notice that proposals would be accepted at the December term of the Court for the building of a stone court- house on the public square in Dixon. The court subsequently received proposals for building the courthouse of brick, and also for the erection of a county jail. The successful bidders and contractors were Samuel M. Bowman for the court- house and Zenos Aplington and G. G. Holbrook, for the jail ; the respective prices being $6,800 and $1,495. In 1840 both county buildings were completed — the courthouse at a cost of $7,610 and 80 acres of land. The former was donated by the citizens of Dixon and the latter by the founder of the town, John Dixon. LAND OFFICE MOVED FROM GALENA TO DIXON In the autumn of 1840, the land office was moved from Galena to Dixon. During the year John Dixon had visited Washington for the purpose of bring- ing about the change. During the Black Hawk war General Winfield Scott had not only met Mr. Dixon, but had Jbecome familiar with the topography of the country between his town and Galena. The opening of the lands to settlement in 1839 and the large and growing influx of settlers to the upper sections of the Rock River Valley made it necessary to have a land office south and east of Galena. So that the logic of events, as well as a personal liking for Father Dixon, induced General Scott, then the foremost military character of the country and soon to be appointed commander of its regular army, to present his friend and his cause to President Van Buren in a most favorable light. When the land office was moved to Dixon, Colonel John Dement, a hero of the Black Hawk war and a leading citizen of that place, was appointed receiver. The location of the land office at Dixon had a marked effect upon the growth of the town, and in March, 1843, an election was held for village incorporation. There were forty-four votes cast, all in favor of incorporation. When the office was moved from Galena to Dixon, the mode of conveyance, as well as the means of communication, was in a primitive state. The land office, with its iron safe, papers and maps, was loaded upon a ' ' prairie schooner ' ' in command of Colonel Dement, the receiver, and Mayor Hackelton, the regis- ter. Left in charge of a driver and propelled by half a dozen yokes of oxen, the conveyance was many days in traveling the sixty-five miles from Galena to Dixon. It arrived in the fall of 1840 in the midst of the presidential election which resulted in the victory of General Harrison. At that time but a small portion of the lands in the district had been brought into market, and the subsequent heavy sales attracted people from all parts of the country loaded with specie with which to make their entries. The specie received at Dixon was shipped to the subtreasury at St. Louis. Although Lee County shared the disturbing effects caused by the State's loss of credit because of the collapse of its impossible internal improvement system and the lack of adequate transportation and communication between the interior towns, its advancement was noticeable. By 1845, the county had a population of 3,282, an increase of 1,247 since the census of 1840 ; and in 1850 it had 5,289 people, an advance of 2,007 over the population of 1845. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 175 In 1850, Lee County changed from the form of government comprising a court of three commissioners to That of township organization. Provision for such change was made by an act of the Legislature approved February 12, 1849, and under its authority the voters of the county had indicated their decision for the change. The reorganization divided the county into ten civil townships. each <>f which was represented by a supervisor. On May 13, 1850, the Board of Supervisors of Lee County held its first session at Dixon, and at that time assumed its present form as a governing body of the county. COMMISSIONERS' GOVERNMENT ABANDONED IN ILLINOIS Thus all the counties covering the Rock River Valley of Illinois assumed form within a decade from the conclusion of the Black Hawk war, and most of them were fully organized within that period, with officials and citizens meet- ing in public buildings of more or less permanence and convenience. The year 1S50 was epochal in the organization of the Illinois counties of the Rock River Valley, as most of them, under the provisions of the constitution of 1848, went over from the commissioners' form of government to the supervisors'. Rock Island, as we have seen, did not make the change until 1857, when politics and parties commenced to run along well defined channels and in great and rugged courses. ROCK COUNTY, WISCONSIN, FORMED Of the four "Wisconsin counties included in this work, Rock, Jefferson and Dodge were carved from Milwaukee County by the Territorial Legislature of 1836, while Dane was taken from Iowa County, in the same year. In July, 1835, John Inman, of Lucerne County, Pennsylvania, and William Holmes, an Ohio man, started from Milwaukee for the Rock River Valley, and passed the site of Janesville at the mouth of the Catfish River. On their return, they passed the same location, and were so impressed with its advantages for permanent settlement that in November they again made the trip from Mil- waukee and staked their claims opposite the Big Rock on the north bank of Rock River. This was a landmark familiar to the Indians and early travelers of the upper valley as it fixed the locality where the river could be safely forded. The Big Rock marked the nucleus of the settlement which was born with the coming of Messrs. Inman and Holmes. Others joined them in 1836 and in December of that year the Territorial Legislature created Rock County from Milwaukee. The new political division was christened in commemoration of the Big Rock which Nature had placed so impressively on the banks of the river. In December, 1837, the seat of justice of Rock County was fixed at the little settlement which had clustered around the Big Rock, and which had been platted by Henry K. -lanes, a Virginian. He, with his brother, Edward Janes, was considered the founder of the county seat, which has developed into one of the most flourishing centers in the Rock River Valley. Rock County was not fully organized until 1839, and on April 1st of that year the commissioners 176 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY held their first meeting. Its first permanent courthouse was erected in 1841. It was a two-story frame building, located on the east side of the Rock River in the Third Ward of Janesville. JEFFERSON COUNTY FORMED IN 1836 Jefferson County experienced a stirring year in 1836. Hebron, Watertown, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson and other settlements took form at that time, largely through the operations of the Rock River Claim Company, in which Solomon Juneau, Daniel Wells and other Milwaukeeans were interested. Aztalan, Lake Mills and minor settlements appeared in embryo about the same time. The county was separated from Milwaukee by legislative act of December 7, 1836, but attached to the latter county for judicial and political purposes. Jefferson County was named by Captain Robert Masters, who resided in the bend of Rock River below Jefferson. The contest for the permanent seat of justice was chiefly between Watertown and Jefferson, but in 1856 was decided in favor of the latter, as it was conveniently located near the center of the county at the junction of the Crawfish with the Rock River. Jefferson was incorporated as a village in 1857. It was a wise decision, as Watertown is in the far north of the county, one of its wards extending over into Dodge. DODGE COUNTY ALSO TAKEN FROM MILWAUKEE Dodge County was also erected on December 7, 1836, by act of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, and attached to Milwaukee County for judicial and other purposes. A separate civil organization was not effected until January, 1840, when the county commissioners met at Fox Lake, the village founded sev- eral years before on the north shore of the lake by that name. Watertown, or Johnson's Rapids, had been settled about the same time. On January 13th of the year named two polling places were opened to decide the question of the permanent location of the seat of justice for Dodge County; one was at Fox Lake, the other in the Fifth Ward of Watertown. Fox Lake was then beaten by seven votes, but afterward regained the coveted honor. But there was a strong demand for a seat of justice nearer the geographical center of the county. In 1845, therefore, Fairfield was platted in the center of the county, a few miles west of the Rock River; in 1848 it was rechristened Dodge Center, and later, Juneau — the latter name in honor of Solomon Juneau, one of the founders of Milwaukee. Juneau became a village in 1865, and is pretty, neat and growing. MADISON, THE TERRITORIAL CAPITAL, FOUNDED Dane County, which embraces several of the northwestern reservoirs of the upper Rock River, as well as a section of the valley of the Wisconsin River, also includes the easternmost outcroppings of the famous lead regions of South- western Wisconsin. Madison, set down among the beauties of the Four Lakes, was the capital of the Territory of Wisconsin before it became the county seat of Dane. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 177 The act of Congress enabling Wisconsin to become a territory became effective July 3, 1836, ami President Jackson awarded the governorship to a man after his own heart — Henry Dodge, the frontiersman and Indian fighter. Governor Dodge took the oath of office at Mineral Point, in the lead region, on the follow- ing day, the 4th of July. The two counties in the new territory west of the .Mississippi were Dubuque and Des Moines. The first election was fixed for the second Monday in October, and the seat of government was temporarily fixed at Belmont, Iowa County. The Legislature met on the 25th of October, and in his inaugural address Governor Dodge directed the attention of that body to the permanent location of the territorial capital, pledging himself to abide in that matter by the decision of a majority of its members. Dubuque, Mineral Point, Milwaukee and Green Bay were all prominent competitors, and were soon to be joined by a new claimant, as a compromise candidate located in the midway section of the Territory. His travels as a judge between Prairie du Chien and Green Bay and in wide intermediate circuits had enabled James Duane Doty to form an intimate acquaintance with the pioneers of Wisconsin and gauge their political needs. In January, 1836, at the last Legislative As- sembly of the Territory of Michigan, Mr. Doty, with some associates, arranged to enter more than 1,200 acres of land between Lakes Mendota and Monona. As he had decided to enter the lists as a claimant for the site of the territorial capital, in the early autumn of 1836, he appeared upon the beautiful tract which he had entered, in company with John V. Suydam, a surveyor, who tells the sequel of the adventure, as follows: "After about eight days from the time of leaving home, we reached what was then called Four Lakes. We came by the trail that led around the north side and west end of Fourth Lake, and found near what might be called the northwest corner, and perhaps two miles from where the University buildings now stand, a small log house occu- pied by a man whose name I have forgotten (Michael St. Cyr, half-breed trader), who entertained our horses and ourselves nights, and assisted us daytimes in making such meanders and surveys of the shores of the Third and Fourth lakes and other points as was necessary for making the plat of the future city. This took us, I think, three days. The precise time in which the survey and original plat of the city was made was during the second and third weeks of November, wdiile the Legislature was in session at Belmont. "We went directly to Belmont, where the Legislature was in session. Arriv- ing there, I immediately set about drawing the plat of Madison, the Governor (Doty) in the meantime giving me minute directions as to its whole plan, every item of which having originated with him w r hile on the ground as being the most suitable and best calculated to develop the peculiar topography of the place. As soon as the plat was completed, I returned home alone, leaving the Governor behind to carry out his object. On the adjournment of the Legisla- ture quite a number of gentlemen, I never learned how many, belonging to that body went to their homes, the owners of sundry corner lots in the new town; and the seat of government of Wisconsin was permanently located at Madison, while the temporary locality was to be at Burlington, on the west side of the Mississippi, until the capitol buildings were erected and got ready for occupancy. ' ' 178 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE COUNTY OF DANE CREATED In the meantime, Doty's new city had received another impetus toward development; for on December 7, 1836, the Legislature had created the County of Dane, with Madison as its seat of justice. Mr. Doty had christened it in honor of Nathan Dane, who as a delegate to the constitutional convention from Massachusetts had introduced into that body the Ordinance of 1787. Congress had made an appropriation of $20,000 for the erection of a terri- torial capitol, and building commissioners were appointed, of which Doty was one, to push the work. Workmen were brought from Milwaukee and the first Wisconsin capitol was partially completed near the foot of King Street near Lake Monona by July 4, 1837. It was not until more than a year later, in November, 1838, that the first Legislative Assembly met at Madison. But as the accommodations were still far from perfect at the capitol, and living quar- ters were almost lacking for the legislators in attendance, a recess was taken until January, 1839. These serious drawbacks caused so much dissatisfaction that Milwaukee endeavored for many years to obtain the location of the State Capital, and the danger of a change was not averted until the second and more substantial capitol was firmly afoot in 1857. Dane County remained attached to Iowa for judicial and political purposes for several years, and was not organized as a separate civil body until May, 1839. . mfekMm^, .,..i _4Ba jifc* '^#Jfi \ j| |1th|!me WW " 7*c " ■'■ *»t " ! &£** **--■■■--'' -<-B ♦■ if • '•• ' .V* ~^~-? ■-. ■'(:- n^ EBE&: ££ ! , is PRESENT DAY IIORICON FROM THE RIVER CHAPTER VIII POLITICS PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR THE BLACK HAWK WAR AND POLITICS DEMOCRATS FATHER THE CONVENTION SYS- TEM — THE VAX BUREN LEGISLATURE OF 183G ILLINOIS, THE STATE CHAMPION OF RAILROADS — SUSPENSION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS — ILLINOIS CENTRAL LINE IN THE UPPER ROCK RIVER VALLEY COLLAPSE OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT SYS- TEM — POLITICS INVOLVED ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL AND THE SECOND ILLI- NOIS CENTRAL THE NOTED CAMPAIGN OF 1840 UPPER ROCK RIVER VALLEY OF ILLINOIS STRONGLY WHIG THE CAMPAIGN IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY WHIG CON- VENTION AT DIXON'S FERRY ANTI-DEMOCRATIC SENTIMENT IN OGLE COUNTY— BOW JUDGE FORD OF OREGON BECAME GOVERNOR — SPURNS REPUDIATION WHAT THE FORD ADMINISTRATION ACCOMPLISHED— THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1847 — DELEGATION FROM THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY JOHN DEMENT, OF LEE COUNTY TAYLOR FIRST PROPOSED FOR PRESIDENT BY LEE COUNTY WHIGS CON- GRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM ROCK RIVER VALLEY — LEGISLATIVE REDIS- TRICTING OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY EXTENSION IN ILLINOIS — ORIGIN OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY — E. B. WASHBURNE FIRST REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CAN- DIDATE — NORTHERN ILLINOIS GROWING IN POLITICAL INFLUENCE} REAL BIRTH OF REPUBLICANISM EDITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM ROCK RIVER VALLEY — THE BLOOMINGTON CONVENTION — ROCK ISLAND COUNTY HOTBED OF ABOLITIONISM THE CAMPAIGN OF 1856 — LINCOLN IN OGLE COUNTY — THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES OF 1858 THE MEETING AT FREEPORT— THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860 THE POLITICS OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN — ROCK COUNTY, A WHIG AND REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD CHIEF JUSTICE WHITON AND THE GLOVER DECISION FIRST REPUB- LICAN CONVENTION IN JANESVILLE — DANE COUNTY OVERSHADOWED BY STATE POLITICS — -POLITICAL DODGE COUNTY AND ITS LEADERS — DEMOCRATIC JEFFERSON COUNTY. The thirty years covered by the conclusion of the Black Hawk war and the commencement of the War of the Rebellion were notable for political up- heavals, the birth and transformation of parties and national movements, which were reflected in the history and the historic characters of the region embraced by the valley of the Rock River. With The Indian problem out of the way, the people of Illinois commenced to align themselves on the basis of general issues rather than on the score of personal leadership. It was not enough that Jackson was the outstanding figure in the expulsion of the red man from the country east of the Mississippi. What policies and principles did he represent? How nearly did Van Buren carry out his views? What of Clay and Adams? The fall of 1832 witnessed a clear redistribution of partisans into whigs and democrats. The Clay whigs Vol. 1—12 179 180 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY stood for protection and internal improvements; the democrats were against both policies, although at first the people of Illinois took no decided stand against the protective tariff. Both parties upheld Jackson's stand against nullification. Although the dissolution of the factional system predicated on personal loyalty to Jackson was not completed for several years, the importance of national issues based on his measures was plainly emphasized in the cam- paign and election of 1832. THE BLACK HAWK WAR AND POLITICS The Black Hawk war made the political fortune of a large number of aspiring Illinois statesmen. Hostilities did not close in time for many of them to participate in the election held August 6, 1832, but the leaders were repre- sented by their friends and were generally successful in securing the political positions w T hich they sought. In the previous year the State had been appor- tioned into three congressional districts. The Third District embraced twenty- five counties, which included Jo Daviess, Henry and Knox, of the territory within the Rock River Valley of Illinois. The candidates for all the districts were pronounced Jackson men, Joseph Duncan of the Third and Zadoc Casey, of the Second, having been prominent in the Black Hawk war. General Dun- can, who had commanded the brigade of volunteers which burned Black Hawk's village, was still in Congress, and Colonel Casey, who fought so bravely with Colonel John Dement at Kellogg 's Grove, yet held the lieutenant-governorship. Both Duncan and Casey were elected and their political prestige enhanced. The Eighth General Assembly which convened December 3, 1832, contained an imposing array of participants in the Black Hawk war. Neither Governor Reynolds' message nor the proceedings of the General Assembly had special significance for the people or the interests of the Rock River Valley, although anything relating to improved avenues of transportation and communication was always pertinent to this transverse bond between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. The Governor's recommendations, however, proposing a rail- road or a canal to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River appealed more to the ambitions of Southern than of Northern Illinois. When the Assembly came to legislate for the first time in the interest of projected railroad routes it was the more settled country south of the Illinois River to which attention was directed. As a developed section of the State the Rock River Valley was in embryo. Laws were passed authorizing not only the incorporation of railroad companies, but concerning the right-of-way for ''public roads, canals and other public works"; subjects which, within a few years, were to be as vital to the Rock River Valley as to any other developing region of the State. DEMOCRATS FATHER THE CONVENTION SYSTEM The result of political elections as determined by personal preferences or prejudices was first counteracted by the democrats, who were the fathers of the convention system. As clearly stated in the "Centennial History of Illi- nois": "The democrats saw that victory for their principles could be won THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 181 only by centering the vote of the party on one man pledged to their support ami by frowning on the candidacy of any rivals, as likely to divide the vote of the party and allow a minority in opposition united on one candidate to win. The means to this end was the convention; whether district, county, State or national, it could state the principles of the party, choose a candidate to exemplify them, and call. upon the rank and file of the party to support him loyally." The whigs criticised the convention system as a device of political manip- ulators to kill off candidates opposed to them. Still the convention idea spread, although the whigs during the early incubation of the scheme made little use of the system except to nominate presidential electors. The first national democratic convention for the nomination of a president and vice president was held at Baltimore, in May, 1835. Martin Van Buren received the nomination to head the ticket. No national whig convention to oppose Van Buren was held. General Harrison was nominated for the pres- idency by several legislatures and other candidates were offered by the state supporting them. The Ninth General Assembly of Illinois indorsed Van Buren by a vote of thirty to twenty and the convention plan recommended by twenty- six to twenty-five. From this time forward, party lines became more clearly defined than ever. Those who had been supporters of Adams and Clay and in favor of a national bank, merging other political differences, called themselves whigs, while the followers of Jackson and Van Buren took the name of demo- crats. Neither party accorded to the other the name claimed by it ; hence arose the names of federalists for the one and locofocos for the other. The latter sobricpuet is said to have originated in New York City. One democratic faction is reported to have put out the lights to extinguish a rival meeting ; supporters of the latter immediately produced candles and locofoco matches (so called), by which combination the meeting designed to be subdued was brought to a suc- cessful (dose. THE VAN BUREX LEGISLATURE OF 1836 In the election of 1836, Van Buren carried Illinois by nearly 3,C00 majority. Two-thirds of the lower house of the General Assembly were democratic and there was only a small whig majority in the Senate. It is said that no more remarkable Legislature ever sat in the United States than this Tenth General Assembly, which convened December 5, 1836. "Among its members," says the Illinois historian, Judge John Moses, "were included a future president of the United States, a defeated candidate for the same high office, six fu- ture United States senators, eight members of the national House of Repre- sentatives, a secretary of the interior, three judges of the State Supreme Court and seven State officers.* Here sat side by side Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas; the gallant Edward Dickinson Baker, who represented at different times the states of Illinois and Oregon in the national councils; 0. H. Brown- ing, a prospective senator and future cabinet officer, and William L. D. Ewing, who had just served a brief period in the Senate; John Logan, father of the late senator, General John A. Logan; Richard M. Cullom, father of Shelby M. Cullom; John A. McClcrnand, afterward member of Congress for many 182 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY years and a distinguished general in the Civil war; 'Uncle' Jesse K. Dubois, afterward State auditor for eight years; General James Shields, Colonel John J. Hardin, William A. Richardson, John Hogan, Robert Smith and James Semple, speaker of the House, all of them future members of Congress ; Au- gustus C. French, a future governor ; Usher F. Linder, Milton Carpenter, John Moore, John Dougherty, Newton Cloud, Archibald Williams, Cyrus and Ninian W. Edwards, W. A. Minshall, Edward B. Webb, William Thomas and John Dement. In this connection it is worthy of special remark that of the eminent whig leaders in this brilliant array, three, Lincoln, Baker and Hardin, met with death by violence in their country's service." ILLINOIS THE STATE CHAMPION OF RAILROADS It was before this Legislature of remarkable men, some of assured stand- ing, others of coming fame, that the internal improvement measure was brought. Such States as New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana were special exponents of canal improvements ; Kentucky of macadamized roads ; while Illinois was the enthusiastic champion of railroads as a means of general development. As Illinois was the typical prairie State, her preference was but natural. Penn- sylvania had taken the lead in internal improvements when the subject came before the General Assembly of Illinois ; in 1837, that great eastern State had in operation 218 miles of railroads and 14 miles of canals. For months before the assembling of the Legislature in December, 1836, meetings had been held by the people urging that body to formulate some plan or legislation as a practical working measure. The convention at Van- dalia, the capital, was attended by delegates from all parts of the State, and was particularly urgent. The first member to formally move in proposing a plan was Stephen A. Douglas, of Morgan County, who, early in the session, introduced a series of resolutions, in which the improvements to be made were specifically described, the works to be owned by the State. The Douglas resolu- tions formed the basis of the report made by the committee appointed for the purpose and which was finally passed on February 27, 1837. As perfected, the bill provided for an expenditure of $10,200,000, of which $9,350,000 was to be for the building of railroads. Of the remainder, $300,000 was to be applied in the improvement of the Wabash, Illinois and Rock rivers, $100,000 each ; and $100,000 of the Little Wabash and Kaskaskia rivers, $50,000 each. For the improvement of the Great Western Mail Route, the appropria- tion was $250,000, and $200,000 was to be distributed among those counties which were not favored with either railroads or canals. A necessary part of the system of improvements adopted by the Legislature of 1837 was the con- struction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, from the south branch of the Chicago River to La Salle, a distance of ninety-si» miles, and fed by the Calumet, Des Plaines, Du Page and Kankakee rivers. Provision was made for the canal improvement by the passage of a law authorizing the sale of canal lands to the amount of $1,000,000 and providing for an additional loan of $500,000, the proceeds of which were to be expended during 1838. The same General Assembly which launched this scheme of internal im- provements, gigantic for a State so young and poor, also changed the location THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 183 of the capital from Vandal in, considerably south of the center of Illinois, to Springfield, much nearer the geographical center and conforming more to the center of population. This was made necessary largely by the develop- ment of the Rock River Valley, the most flourishing region in Northwestern Illinois. SUSPENSION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS The suspension of specie payments followed so closely upon the projection ot the Illinois scheme of internal improvements as to partially paralyze it before it was placed in operation. When the General Assembly met July 10, 1838, Governor Duncan referred to the deranged financial condition of the country and, under the circumstances, recommended the repeal of the internal improvement law, wisely remarking that "the disasters which had already befallen the commercial world suggested the necessity of escaping from the perils of a system which could only be fraught with evil." The law to legalize the suspension of the banks was passed, but the bill for the repeal of the internal improvement system was laid on the table by a vote of 53 to 34. The fund commissioners sent East to raise funds to tide over the bank crisis and com- mence some of the public works contemplated, raised $5,600,000 and disbursed $4,600,000 by December, 1838. A Board of Public Works had already been elected by the Legislature. William Kinney, of St. Clair County, an adroit politician whom Joseph Duncan had defeated for the governorship in 1834, was president of the board, and Father John Dixon was one of its seven mem- bers. Dixon represented the Sixth Judicial District on that body. ILLINOIS CENTRAL LINE IN THE UPPER ROCK RIVER VALLEY Although the first work on the internal improvement plan was done on that part of the Northern Cross Railroad from Meredosia, on the Illinois River, t<> Jacksonville, probably more was accomplished in the upper Rock River Valley in the early stages of fixing the line of the Illinois Central Railroad than in developing any other unit of the system in the State. To the rail- toad from Galena to Cairo was apportioned more than one-third the total amount designed to found the entire system. Dixon's Ferry, or the town of Dixon, although it then contained but a few houses, was recognized as a loca- tion of commanding importance in the building of the road, and its founder as an important factor in the business and political affairs of Northern Illinois. While the survey of the road had not been fixed beyond recall, Sterling made an effort to gain its location. Petitions were presented to the Legislature by both Sterling and Dixon. The paper offered by John Dixon and signed by nearly 140 citizens won the contest. It read: "Your petitioners — citizens residing on Rock River and vicinity — understanding that a petition has been or is about to be presented to your honorable body representing that the Central Railroad, or that part of the same from Rocky ford to Savannah cross- ing Rock River at Dixon is located on unfavorable ground, occasioning a longer and more expensive route — to which we would respectively protest — "And would add that whatever may be the feelings of a few interested 184 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY individuals at Sterling, we are of the opinion that that part of the Central Railroad alluded to has been judiciously located — answering both the interest of the finances of the State and that of a very large majority of the citizens of the Rock River Country — "Authentic information on this subject is in reach of Your Honorable Body, to which we would respectfully refer you. In the reports of the engi- neers, duly appointed to examine and survey said road, information will be found properly attested. And your petitioners have too much confidence in the good sense and judgment of our Legislature to suppose that the repre- sentations of a few individuals should have much weight against all the evi- dence in your possession to the contrary." The contest for a location on the line of the proposed railroad was involved in the furious fight for the seat of justice of Ogle County ; for Lee was at that time a part of Ogle County, and was not separated from it until two years thereafter. While work on the old Illinois Central was sporadically continu- ing, during 1838-39, the State engineers occupied a little log building with a stone basement at Dixon, which was also used for court purposes. The grading of the road in Lee County was made from the south bank of the Rock River directly to the south boundary. Large quantities of stone, much of it dressed for use in building piers and abutments for bridges over Rock River and other streams, were hauled into Lee County and deposited along the route of the proposed railroad. In Dixon a large amount of material was left, and subsequently sold at public auction. COLLAPSE OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM The collapse of the first Illinois Central Railroad, with the entire internal improvement system, was a blow to Dixon and all concerned in the progress of the upper Rock River Valley. The Dixon family, the members of which were identified with many interests, were especially hard hit. The position of the State Board of Public Works during these years was perplexing. While serving as one of its members, Mr. Dixon was involved in a matter which proved his good metal as well as that of others associated with him. The pay- rolls of the contracting concerns were made out and signed and the men awaited Father Dixon to pay them off. It was his duty as commissioner to draw the money at Springfield and pay the men. He had entrusted his draft on Spring- field to a contractor named Hamlin, who absconded with the proceeds amount- ing to $11,500. James P. Dixon and Smith Gilbraith started in pursuit, traveling by stage coach through many of the eastern states, but returned to Dixon with the rogue still uncaught. Soon after, James and Elijah Dixon renewed the search, traveling in Canada and through the eastern and New England states, striking Hamlin's trail once in Connecticut, but again losing it and abandoning the chase. In the meantime, John Dixon had raised the money and paid it to the State. Some time afterward, Hamlin drew a prize of $25,000 in a lottery. With this and his other ill-gotten gains he returned boldly to Galena and opened a store. Mr. Dixon at once instituted suit and recovered judgment for the $11,500 and interest. The sheriff closed out all of Hamlin's goods of which he could get possession, which paid the costs and THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 185 expenses of the pursuit and a few hundred dollars of the stolen money. The incident is ;i striking illustration of Father Dixon's sense of stern justice and but one instance in a thousand comprising this period of speculation and rascality in which the innocent were made to suffer with the reckless and guilty. The internal improvement scheme was abandoned in 1839-40, but not until State bonds exceeding $13,000,000 had been issued. This great State debt, so burdensome for a commonwealth in its unstable infancy, was the direct Legacy of a plan of development at least a generation ahead of the resources of the people. It was nearly twenty years after the first Illinois Central Railroad Company, both under private and slate auspices, had barely scratched the soil of the State, that the project was realized and a line opened under the old name from Chicago to La Salle and from Cairo to Dunleith (East Dubuque). The main north and south line beyond the Illinois River ran from La Salle to Dunleith. by way of Dixon and Freeport. The Galena & Chicago Union had already arrived at Rockford and Freeport, and subsequently was extended to Dixon, Sterling, Morrison and Fulton, on the Mississippi River. Thus was laid the foundation of the transportation system which has so well accommodated the people of the northern sections of the Rock River Valley. The lower valley was more particularly parceled by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, also in the middle '50s. The former was the first railroad to span the Mississippi ; and the Rock River Valley was thus the pioneer in cementing the great regions of the country east of the Mississippi with those to the west. Although Illinois was at first crushed to earth by the reckless scope of the internal improvements which she projected, her persistent support of railroad enterprises, to which her best citizens returned again and again, made the State great and developed the Rock River Valley into one of the most vital domains of the commonwealth. POLITICS INVOLVED WITH THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN Despite the fact that the prosecution of the internal improvements plan threatened the State with bankruptcy, the money expended under it had be- come so strong a political agency that the leaders of both parties hesitated to entirely abandon it. Governor Duncan, however, had opposed it from the first, and when he left the gubernatorial chair in December, 1838, reemphasized his position, and urged that such works as it contemplated be placed in the hands of individuals or corporations. He said in his valedictory message to the Eleventh General Assembly: "Experience has now sufficiently shown that all my objections to it must in time be fully realized. That there should have been many mistakes committed, and much waste of public money in conducting a system of internal improvements upon bo huge a scale in a country almost destitute of skill ami experience in such works was to be expected. But I confess they have occurred to an extent never anticipated by myself — and whether by mistake or design it is very manifest that large sums have been squandered on objects of little or no general utility and in some cases to the detriment of the public interest. The want of economy and the deleterious effects of such a system owned, controlled and carried on by the State, are great and insurmountable objections to it, but, in my opinion, not so great 186 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY as the powers it confers on the State government, through its numerous officers and dependents, to influence elections and legislation." Three days after the delivery of this valedictory, came the inaugural of Governor Carlin. He disagreed with the outgoing governor in all the essentials, except as to the continued construction of the Illinois & Michigan canal. Gov- ernor Carlin, however, did observe : ' ' Had I occupied my present position at the establishment of this system I would have recommended its adoption on a less expensive scale, and the construction of the most important works first. ' ' But : ' ' Under the present plan of proceeding, however, near two mil- lion dollars have been expended, and whatever diversity of opinion may now exist as to the expediency of the system as originally projected, all must ad- mit that the character and credit of the State forbid its abandonment." Not only did the Legislature not repeal the original measure, but appropriated an additional $800,000 for the improvement of waterways and the construction of railroads. In the meantime, the work of internal improvements, the letting of con- tracts, the selling of bonds and the piling up of the State debt, went merrily on. Philadelphia, New York and London were scoured by the agents of the State and bonds sold at a material discount in the sum of $13,200,000. In alarm, Governor Carlin called a special session of the Assembly to which he recommended a modification of the system, stating that "the ruinous policy of simultaneously commencing all the works and constructing them in detached parcels was alike at variance with the principles of sound economy, destructive to the interests of the State and to the system in all its parts." The whigs were generally in favor of calling the special session; the demo- crats avoided responsibility and endeavored to throw it upon the governor him- self. But the steps taken by the Legislature as a whole lead to the conclusion that both political parties realized that the system was doomed. The Board of Fund Commissioners and the Board of Public Works were abolished. A single fund commissioner was elected who was to receive the railroad iron purchased in Europe as well as the unsold bonds; to dispose of the iron and destroy the bonds, and to audit and settle the accounts of the late boards. A new Board of Public Works was created, who were authorized to adjust all liabilities under the Internal Improvement system. Only those engineers and agents whose services were required to ascertain the amounts due con- tractors were to be retained and even these were to be discharged as soon as practicable. Such roads as were completed were to be opened and managed by the new Board of Public Works. It was evident that these measures were all taken to provide the machinery to suspend the operations of the system, take an account of its stock and actual accomplishments and liquidate the debt of the State, or at least gauge it and check its increase. When the account of stock and accomplishments was taken, the people of Illinois keenly realized that the mountain had brought forth a mouse. The section of the Northern Cross Railroad from Meredosia was more nearly con- structed than any other part of the system, and was actually finished after the expenditure of another $100,000 derived from the sale of canal bonds. When finally sold at auction the road which had cost the State nearly $1,000,000 was purchased by a Springfield capitalist for $21,000. The railroad iron for THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 187 which the fund commissioners had contracted in Europe hardly brought enough to pay freightage. ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL AND THE SECOND ILLINOIS CENTRAL The Illinois & Michigan Canal was no part of the State system of internal Improvements as promulgated in 1837. It was a cooperative enterprise under- taken by the Nation and the State many years before, and its building fund was a magnificent land grant donated by Congress and amounting to 300,000 acres. Work upon this substantial project was continued amid the wreckage of the internal improvement system and, although suspended for a number of years after 1841, was completed in 1848. Although the great system of public works designed to especially benefit the interior of the State was in ruins by 1839, it carried a saving germ which eventually developed into a prodigious fund of public value. The second Illinois Central Railroad was in the wreckage, with its grand scheme of project- ing itself from Cairo to the southern terminus of the Illinois & Michigan (anal at La Salle, and thence shooting across Northwestern Illinois to the Mississippi River at a point opposite Dubuque, Iowa. The project was re- incarnated in January, 1850, through Stephen A. Douglas, the originator of the internal improvement scheme of Illinois, who also became the father of that congressional land grant of nearly 2,600,000 acres, the proceeds of which formed the fund which built and developed the Illinois Central Railroad with all the advantages to the State and its Rock River Valley which that state- ment implies. THE NOTED CAMPAIGN OP 1840 The .collapse of the internal improvement system and the consequent dark shadow of a great public debt which followed could not be logically charged to either the democrats or whigs of the State ; for although the democrats were in power, not a few of their leaders, like Joseph Duncan, opposed the original plan and tried either to kill it or to modify it. The problem of the State of Illinois now was to extricate itself from its indebtedness with honor, so as to maintain its financial credit without placing a heavy burden of taxation upon a sorely distressed people passing through a period of deep depression fol- lowing one of wild speculation and inflation. The widespread stress of hard times the whigs charged upon democratic, particularly Jacksonian, measures and legislation. The special problems confronting the State could not be charged to party legislation or policy, but rather to the prevailing rage for public expansion and individual speculation. The consequence was that the campaign of 1S40 in Illinois was conducted wholly on national issues. The whigs had been forced to capitulate to the democracy in favor of the convention system and partisan cohesion. Accordingly, at the suggestion of leading newspapers, the first whig State convention w r as convoked at Spring- field on October 7, 1839, to effect an organization and name delegates to the national convention already called to meet at Harrisburg on the following 4th of December. At that time and place, the whigs nominated William Henry 188 THE EOCK RIVER VALLEY Harrison for president and John Tyler for vice president. Martin Van Buren was unanimously renominated by the democrats as their presidential candidate, at Baltimore, May 5, 1840. No candidate for vice president was placed in nomination, as the party resolved "to leave the decision to their republican fellow-citizens of the several states." The whigs declared for a protective tariff, a United States bank and economy in the national administration. Although the democrats adopted a platform of negatives, it was founded on the principle of States Rights, and denied the constitutionality of the General Government to foster internal improve- ments, assume the debts of State or in any way to interfere with the domestic institutions of the States. • With the convention plan now in force by both parties, the political lines were drawn more closely than ever before. It was a campaign of strange con- tradiction. It was fought both on general principles and hot appeals to per- sonal attachment. For the whigs it was the hard-cider and log-cabin campaign, and the democrats posed as the poor man's party, with its hickory clubs and poles, emblematic of General Jackson and his successor. In his Illinois history, John Moses thus graphically describes the campaign as manifested at the State capital: "No regular army was ever better organized, equipped or drilled than the contending hosts on either side. The whigs had never elected a pres- ident and being for the first time united under one banner, with bright pros- pects of success, a wonderful enthusiasm pervaded their ranks such as the democrats were not able to arouse. They held meetings, extraordinary as re- gards both members and interest, all over the country. One of these, which, perhaps, exceeded all others, was held at Springfield in June. The people came from all portions of the State; in wagons, on horseback, on foot, bringing their provisions with them and camping. The prairies for a week previous to the meeting were covered with excited crowds, drinking hard cider, riding in their log cabins built on wheels, and singing campaign songs, a specimen of which is as follows: " 'Let Frenchmen drink claret and sweet muscadine, And Germans drink hock on the banks of the Rhine ; But give me to quaff, with friends warm and true, A gourd of hard cider to old Tippecanoe. In the White House Van Buren may drink his champagne And have himself toasted from Georgia to Maine — But we in log cabins, with hearts warm and true, Drink a gourd of hard cider to old Tippecanoe.' "Twenty thousand people, nearly five per cent of the entire population of the 'State, attended the meeting, among whom was a delegation from Chicago, of whose members Charles Cleaver, Thomas B. Carter and Stephen F. Gale are still (1889) living. Securing fourteen of the best teams available and four tents, they captured the government yawl which they rigged up as a two-masted ship and placed on a strong wagon drawn by six fine gray horses. Thus equipped, with four sailors on board, a band of music and a six-pounder THE ROCK BIVEK VALLEY 189 cannon to fire salutes, with Captain, afterward .Major General David Hunter, in command as chief marshal, they started with flying colors on their journey. It was an exciting and an ever-to-be-remembered expedition. At Joliet, which they reached on the evening of the second day, their progress was opposed by a mob of roughs and lahorers on the canal; hut the advancing force, at the word of command, having drawn their pistols, it was deemed advisahle to permit them to proceed. They were seven days making the trip. Their vessel was a wonder to the inhabitants along the route, many of whom had never seen anything of the kind. "At Springfield it divided the attention of the masses with a huge log cabin, twelve by sixteen feet, constructed on an immense truck whose wheels were made of solid wood, cut from a large tree. The latter was drawn by thirty yoke of oxen ; a couple of coons were playing in the branches of a hickory sapling at one corner; and a barrel of hard cider stood by the door, whose latch-string was hanging out. "The brig was presented to the whigs of Sangamon County in an able speech by William Stuart of the Chicago American; in return for which the Chicago delegation was presented with a live gray eagle in an eloquent address by E. D. Baker, at the critical portion of which, when he described the eagle's broad flight as emblematic of Harrison's election, the noble bird responded to the sentiment b}' rearing his head, expanding his wings and giving a loud cry. The applause of the immense crowd was correspondingly wild and en- thusiastic. The entire trip consumed three weeks' time, but was enjoyed by the party from first to last." The whigs elected their president, but failed to carry Illinois, the majority in favor of Van Buren being nearly 2,000. The foreign vote along the canal in Cook and La Salle counties and in St. Clair County, opposite St. Louis, more than turned the scale. The democrats also succeeded in electing a large majority of the Twelfth General Assembly. The Senate stood 26 democrats and 14 whigs; the House, 51 democrats and 40 whigs. UPPER ROCK RIVER VALLEY STRONGLY WHIG The Rock River Valley presented a strong whig front. Winnebago, Ogle and Lee counties being especially enthusiastic in the cause of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Winnebago was a veritable whig stronghold. On April 11, 1840, the whigs held a convention at Rockford and nominated a full county ticket. Among the local leaders of the party were Selden M. Church, Jacob Miller, II. B. Potter, G. A. Sanford and Isaac N. Cunningham. Democratic prin- ciples were championed by Jason March, Daniel S. Haight, Henry Thurston, P. Knappen, J. C. Goodhue, II. W. Loomis and C. I. Horseman. Boone County had been organized from the eastern portion of Winnebago and the western two ranges had been transferred to Stephenson. In the new counties, the whigs also had the upper hand. The August elections resulted in the choice of the whig representatives, Thomas Drummond, of Jo Daviess (afterward so prominent as a Federal judge), and Hiram W. Thornton, of Mercer County. Isaac N. Cunningham was elected sheriff; Alonzo Piatt, coroner, and Ezra S. Cable, commissioner. 190 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE CAMPAIGN IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY Henry Thurston, who had come from New York and settled in Rockford three years before, was commencing a residence of nearly sixty years in this center of whigism. A few years before his death and at the near-conclusion of this long period as a citizen of Rockford, he wrote as follows regarding the stirring campaign of 1840 in his home locality: "The sparseness of the popula- tion, the limited amount accessible of the current literature of the day, to which some of the settlers had been accustomed; the almost entire deprivation of the pleasures of social life among the older people, caused them to enter into a political or local contest with a vim which almost invariably became personal before it was decided. When the fight was ended, the passions cooled down and sober second thought had resumed its sway, it frequently happened that both parties joined in a general pow-wow and celebration. "It was so in 1840. The whigs of this locality imitated the tactics so suc- cessfully practiced throughout the Union. They had no cider, either hard or sweet, but they did possess in abundance all the paraphernalia used by the party in the populous parts of the country. They put up a log cabin in regular pioneer style on the southeast corner of State and Madison streets for political headquarters, profusely decorated with coon skins and other regalia pertaining to the times; imported speakers from Galena, Chicago and inter- vening points; got up processions, and with Frank Parker blowing an E flat bugle and China Parker a clarionet — neither of them having the slightest knowledge of music and each blowing with might and main in a vain effort to drown out his companion — marched about the village wherever they could secure a following. The village drum was in possession of the democrats and consequently not available for whig celebrations." Jacob Miller was the most popular of the local whig orators. He was familiar with the vernacular of the westerner and drew his illustrations from their daily life. At the close of a harangue he would sometimes produce his fiddle and scrape the "Arkansas Traveler." The whole assembly joined in a general breakdown, and the orator of the day was borne in triumph on the shoulders of his friends to the nearest bar. At the presidential election, which occurred in November, the whigs cast 768 votes in the county and the democrats, 321. The whig majority of 447 was nearly 100 more than that of the State and county election in August. Abraham Lincoln was one of the five whig candidates for presidential elector in Illinois. But Illinois was one of the seven states that sent Van Buren electors to Washington. The late Charles A. Church, the well known journalist and historian of Winnebago and Boone counties, makes these comments on the aftermath of the famous campaign and election of 1840 : ' ' The facilities for communication were so meager that the official vote of the State was not known in Rockford until late in December. A messenger from the capital, with the official vote of the State, passed through Rockford ten days in advance of its publication in the Chicago papers and communicated, it is said, the news to the prominent men of the democratic party, in each village, for betting purposes. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 191 "The Rock River Express of December 4. 1840, published this advertise- ment in display type: 'For Salt River, the steamboat Van Buren, only font- years old, will leave on the 4th of March next, for Salt River. For freight or passage, apply to the White House. Hypocrites will be in attendance to amuse the passengers free of charge.' " WHIG CONVENTION AT DIXON'S FERRY The great Jo Daviess representative district of Northwestern Illinois was the one which returned Thomas Drummond and Hiram Thornton to the lower house of the Legislature. It stretched from the lead mine region on the north to Mercer County and the Mississippi on the south, and Dixon, on its eastern border and almost midway between these localities, was the easiest point of access for its citizens. Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, while minister to France, wrote a reminiscent letter to John Dixon, regarding the convention held in the little rough pioneer schoolhou.se of Dixon's Ferry to make these legisla- tive nominations. This phase of the communication between these old gentle- men, whose life-lines had so widely diverged, is presented by Mr. Wa.shburne in these words: "It was in June, 1840, that there was a big whig convention held at Dixon's Ferry to nominate candidates for the Legislature to represent a district composed of some ten or fifteen counties in the northwestern part of the State; counties which now have populations enough to send two mem- bers to Congress. Drummond, now judge of the United States Circuit Court, and Horster (Thornton), the blacksmith of Millersburg, Mercer County, were nominated and elected by a large majority. Tom Campbell, of Galena, and Dr. Van Valzeb (Thomas Van Valzah). of Freeport, were the democratic nominees. Drummond and Campbell canvassed the district together on horse- back, carrying their duds in saddlebags. "A lively retinue of whigs went down to that convention from Jo Daviess County, but I was not of them, only having put up my shingle as a lawyer a few weeks before at Galena. I well recollect when the Galena delegates left in their lumber wagons for the long journey, and they departed with songs and shoutings and banners. When they got home they told of the glorious time they had, and what a magnificent repast Sample M. Turney had provided for them at Elkhorn Grove (now in Carroll County) when on their return. When I think of all the good things wc had to cat in those good old times, I feel like showing my Paris cook the door." ANTI-DEMOCRATIC SENTIMENT IN OGLE COUNTY Ogle County ran Lee a close race on the strength of its whig sentiment, and during the campaign enthusiastic meetings, with the popular songs and music dedicated to Harrison and Tyler, were held at Oregon, Mount Morris, Polo and other centers. The prevailing sentiment against the democratic ad- ministration, with its concomitants of hard times and distressing State com- plications, brought about a rebellion against Van Buren, its responsible head. The result in Ogle County was to give Harrison 451 ballots and Van Buren, 266. 192 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY HOW JUDGE FORD, OF OREGON, BECAME GOVERNOR The State campaign of 1841-42, which terminated in the August election of the latter year, was seriously complicated with the Mormon imbroglio. Captain Adam W. Snyder, who had long been a resident of St. Clair County in the southwestern part of the State and had risen from an obscure position as a woolen mill workman and a struggling lawyer to substantial standing in the Legislature and Congress was the gubernatorial nominee of the democrats. He had taken an active part in the legislation conferring unusual privilege upon the Mormons at Nauvoo by which they could virtually defy the State government. The Mormons had supported the whigs in 1840, but on account of favors shown them by the democratic Legislature had transferred their allegiance to their new friends. Ex-Governor Duncan became the candidate of the whigs without calling upon the action of any convention, as no other name had been mentioned worthy of consideration. Although some of the whig members of the Legislature had voted for the obnoxious charters and ordinances granted to the Nauvoo Mormons, Joseph Smith, their prophet, had issued a proclamation exhorting his followers to support Snyder. The Mormon cause in Illinois was therefore considered bound up with that of the State democracy. Captain Snyder, however, died in May preceding the August election. In the meantime, public sentiment evidently turned against the friendly attitude of the democrats toward the Mormons and the party looked around for a candidate who had not so prominently committed himself on this meas- ure as the deceased. They fixed upon Thomas Ford, who had been a resident of Oregon since 1836. Since that year he had ably served as judge of the Northern Illinois circuit and of the Galena circuit, and his judicial duties had taken him as far north as Galena and as far east as Geneva, Kane Country. He was therefore widely known and generally respected, his name and judicial record being more closely associated with Northern than with Southern Illinois. He was known neither as a legislator nor a politician and had no record in the Mormon troubles, which was at this state of the campaign in his favor, as the whigs, under the leadership of Duncan, were making them the prominent issue against the democrats. Judge Ford was holding court at Oregon when he received notice of his nomination for the governorship by the convention which had assembled soon after Captain Snyder's death in May. Ford immediately resigned his posi- tion on the bench and entered actively into the canvass. Although his non- committal attitude on the Mormon issue was now proving an element of his strength, the positive stand which he had taken on the northern boundary question was against him in the section of the State where he was best known. Most of the fourteen northern counties of the State favored connection with Wisconsin, and Judge Ford was opposed to it. In this, he opposed a strong sentiment in his home county. The only democratic newspaper in Ogle County was the Rock River Register, which turned against Ford as the nominee of its party on the score of his position on the boundary issue and declared that he was ' ' a northern man with southern principles. ' ' The central and southern portions of the State desired to retain the northern counties that they might THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 193 bear their share of the taxes needed to be levied to honestly pay the heavy debt. Despite the opposition to him in Northern Illinois and the lingering prejudice againsl his party because of its late support of the .Mormons, Judge Ford \\a> elected in August, 1842, by the Largesl majority the democrats had yet received in Illinois. The vote stood — for Ford, 46,901, and for Duncan, 38,584. A picture ami analysis of the governor-elect is given by Judge John Moses in his Illinois history, as follows: "The governor was low in stature and slender in person, with thin features, deep-set grey eyes, and an aquiline nose which had a twist to one side. Though small physically, he was large mentally. Unlike most of bis predecessors he was noted neither for athletic accomplish- ments nor for military achievements, although be served creditably in the Black Hawk war. He had studied law thoroughly under Daniel P. Cook, and to excel as a lawyer bad been his highest ambition, to attain which end he had devoted all his time and talents. As a judge his decisions were noted for their justice and impartiality. He had never aspired to distinction as a public speaker, nor did he possess those qualities which render a candidate personally popular. In fact, if left to secure his own elevation by the stereo- typed methods of politicians, he would never have been the choice of his party for governor, nor. indeed, for any other elective office. "A better selection, in many respects, for the welfare of the State at this critical juncture in its history could not have been made. While his experi- ence on the bench had not qualified him for that contact with politicians and the management of public men which is so essential to personal success, and while he pi ssessed strong prejudices, was obstinate and resentful of opposi- tion, especially when it came from his own political household, his native in- tegrity, mental calibre and sound judgment, enabled him to perceive and grasp the dangers with which the State was threatened from repudiation, and to suggest those measures which placed its credit and good name beyond question or reproach." GOVERNOR FORD SPURNS REPUDIATION As the campaign progressed, covering the period from the election to the convening of the Legislature, Governor Ford perceived that all other minor issues were being submerged by the pressing duty of providing for the can- cellation of the State debt, either by repudiation or honorable liquidation. In September, William S. Wait, of Bond County, Southern Illinois, addressed a letter to him, through the columns of the State Register, vigorously opposing any increase of taxes for the payment of the public debt. "This," said the irovernor in his reply, "gave me a decent pretext for coming before the people with my views in favor of the measure, in advance of the meeting of the Legis- lature to convene in December following. I knew that nothing could be more unpopular than to favor an increase of taxes; in so doing I knew that I came into immediate collision with every demagogue and incurred imminent hazard of making myself utterly obnoxious to a tax-hating people. I clearly saw that to be opposed to taxation might be the better for myself, but certainly worse for the State." 194 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY After stating Mr. Wait's position that increased taxes within the ability to pay would be without utility, Governor Ford noted the drawbacks suffered by the State in the past two years, such as general failure of the crops, high waters and the destruction of farms and live stock. For that period the people had been looking to the General Assembly to settle the problem of the payment of the public debt. He deprecated throwing this burden on future generations, by further postponing the settlement of the matter. He also expressed the belief that the people had been burdened not so much by high taxes, but by the fear of them. That fear had lost many good citizens to the State and repelled many others. The only relief was to offer a remedy at once. ' ' There are but two modes of settling this question, ' ' the governor continued. "One will be to begin at once a system of taxation which we mean to pursue; the other is by direct repudiation. This last mode will expose us to the merited scorn and contempt of the civilized world. It defies the eternal principle of sacred justice, and will establish for us among all men a reputation as odious and detestable as that of a nest of pirates. Mankind will never forget, and we can never ourselves forget, that we have had the money of our creditors that we owe them, that they have lost that much ; and that with a heaven- daring impudence and scornful defiance of the moral principles of man's nature, we deny the debt and refuse to pay it." At the meeting of the Legislature, it was found that quite an opposition had been organized against the Ford administration, although the democrats had a majority of about two-thirds in each house. The whigs were consistent oppo- nents of the administration, and Governor Ford, doubtless from his ignorance of "practical politics," had made many enemies by his appointments. The result was a near-defeat of both the canal bill and the measure to levy a permanent tax in order to pay a portion of the interest on the public debt of the State. The two measures were originally incorporated in one bill and failed to pass until they had been separated. At the same session of the Legislature which provided for the levying of the permanent tax, an offset law was passed making the legal rate of interest six per cent ; above that rate, usurious. The latter was a measure of great relief to the people of Illinois, as previously merchants in the middle and southern portions of the State had been accustomed to induce customers to buy on credit, and, when unable to pay, to take notes bearing as high as twelve per cent interest. WHAT THE FORD ADMINISTRATION ACCOMPLISHED A moderate statement of what the Ford administration accomplished in bringing the State from a really serious dilemma into the company of the honorable and progressive commonwealths of the United States is given by the governor himself in his history of Illinois. He says on this point: "In Decem- ber, 1846, when the author went out of office, the domestic debt of the treasury, instead of being $313,000, was only $31,000, with $9,000 in the treasury. Audi- tors' warrants were at par, or very nearly so. The banks had been put in liquida- tion in a. manner just to all parties, and so as to maintain the character of the State for moderation and integrity. Violent counsels were rejected. The TIIK HOCK RIVER VALLKY 195 notes of the banks had entirely disappeared and had been replaced in circula- tion by a reasonable abundance of gold and silver coin and tbe notes of solvent banks of other states. The people had very generally paid their private debts. A very considerable portion of the State debt had been paid also. About $.'{.000,000 had been paid by a sale of the public property and by putting the banks into liquidation, and a sum of $5,000,000 more had been effectually pro- vided for to be paid after the completion of the canal; being a reduction of $8, 000,000 in the State debt which had been paid, redeemed or provided for, whilst the author was in office. The State itself, although broken and at one time discredited and a by-word throughout the civilized world had, to the astonishment of everyone, been able to borrow 7 , on the credit of its property, the further sum of $1,(500,000 to finish the canal; and that great work, at one time BO hopeless and so nearly abandoned, is now r (1847) in a fair way of completion." In the meantime (1843) the congressional districts of the State had been reapportioned by the General Assembly, so that all the Illinois counties in the Rock River Valley except Boone had been thrown into the Sixth. In the elec- tion of August, 1846, Thomas J. Turner, of Freeport, was sent to Washington to represent the Sixth, which then embraced sixteen counties including Stephen- son, Winnebago, Ogle, Whiteside, Henry, Lee and Rock Island. The new con- gressman had located in the lead district of Southwestern Wisconsin and North- western Illinois in his youth. A few years afterward he located in Stephenson County and was admitted to the bar. As prosecuting attorney he secured the conviction of the murderers of Colonel Davenport in July, 1845, and was elected to Congress in the following year. He established the first newspaper in Freeport, served as the first mayor there, was a leader in the Legislature for many years and afterward moved to Chicago. He died in 1874. THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OP 1847 The constitutional convention which assembled at Springfield, on June 7, 1847, was the culmination of attempts made by three legislatures and three popular elections to determine the question of a revision of the fundamental law under which the State had been operating since 1818. When the people decided by an overwhelming vote that they wished revision, the stage was all set for the first reformation of its organic law to be made by any of the states carved from the territory northwest of the Ohio River. It is said that party lines were not strictly drawn in the selection of delegates; at the same time that "the democrats were careful to maintain in the convention the supremacy which they held in the State, electing 92 out of the 162 members." Although rather an unwieldy body in point of numbers, the quality of its membership was remarkably high, the leaders from both the democratic and whig parties being well represented. DELEGATION FROM THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY The delegation from the Rock River Valley was solid and brilliant, and there was hardly a member who had not been a pioneer and a community- builder and some had already earned reputations transcending the bounds of Vol. 1—13 196 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the State. Winnebago County sent Selden M. Church and Robert J. Cross. At that time, Mr. Church was a leading business man of Rockford and county clerk. Afterward he was to be probate judge and a leader in State legisla- tion and administration, as well as very prominent in the business, financial and public affairs of his home city. Both Judge Church and Mr. Cross bore notable parts in the constitutional convention of 1847. Early in the session Judge Church introduced the reso- lution barring slavery from the State, while Mr. Cross fathered the measures for changing the general elections from August to November and the manner of voting from viva voce to ballot. Mr. Cross also led in the effort to secure in the new constitution a provision for the creation of a state superintendent of schools with a liberal salary. The neighboring County of Boone was represented by Dr. Daniel H. Whit- ney, and Stephen A. Hurlbut, both of whom were early settlers of Rockford and Belvidere. Dr. Whitney was one of the most popular and beloved physicians and citizens of Boone County, a good story teller, a pithy writer and a man of kind and Christian deeds. Mr. Hurlbut was a South Carolina gentleman and settled at Belvidere as a young man soon after his admission to the bar. Both he and Dr. Whitney were leading whigs and afterward republicans. Dr. Whitney died before the conclusion of the Civil war, while Mr. Hurlbut attained distinction as a major general in active service and subsequently as the admin- istrative head of a military department. At the close of the war he reentered politics and public life, and later served two terms in Congress and as minister both to the United States of Columbia and to Peru. He died, while in the diplomatic service at Lima, in March, 1882. JOHN DEMENT, OF LEE COUNTY Colonel John Dement, delegate to the convention from Lee County, was already a notable figure in the history of the State. He was then in his early '40s, a native of Tennessee endowed with all the typical fighting instincts of his State. As a youth, he accompanied his parents to Franklin County, Southern Illinois, where, as a young man, he served as sheriff and member of the General Assembly. He was a leading character in three Indian cam- paigns and one of the heroes of the Black Hawk war. At the time of the final conflict which drove the red man from Illinois soil, Colonel Dement was treas- urer of the State, but in 1836 resigned his office to represent Fayette County in the General Assembly and aid in the fight against moving the capital from Vandalia to Springfield. His efforts failing, he removed to the northern part of the State, finally locating at Dixon, where he extensively engaged in manu- facturing. He held the office of receiver of the public moneys under the democratic administration from the time of his first appointment by Van Buren until it was abolished in Pierce's time. Colonel Dement was a democratic presidential elector in 1844 and served in two constitutional conventions besides that of 1847, being temporary president of those which met in 1862 and 1870. There was no delegate in the convention of 1847 whose words and personality carried more weight than those of John Dement. He died at his home in Dixon in 1883, the year before his son, Henry D. Dement, became secretary of State of Illinois. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 197 The following delegates from other counties of the Rock River Valley were all substantial and able pioneers: John W. Spencer, one of the founders of Rock Island and among the first white settlers of the lower valley; Seth B. Farwell, of Stephenson, and Joshua Harper, of Henry; Aaron C. Jackson, one of the old settlers and prominent whigs of the Morrison region in White- side County, who had represented that county and Lee in the lower house of the General Assembly, and Professor Daniel J. Pinckney, principal of Rock River Seminary at Mount Morris, Ogle County. This is no place to review the proceedings of the convention which con- cluded its work on August 31, 1847, or to even summarize the constitution formulated. The most radical changes from the old order of things political were those making the Supreme Court judges and State officers elective; limit- ing the right of suffrage to white male citizens, as contradistinguished from "inhabitants," thus disfranchising unnaturalized foreigners who could vote under the constitution of 1818 ; and constitutionally correcting the financial embarrassments of the State. The State was prohibited from contracting any indebtedness exceeding $50,000, and only that sum "to meet casual deficits or failures in revenue." Neither was the credit of the State "in any manner to be given to, nor in aid of, any individual association or corporation." The positive provision of the constitution adopted by the convention of 1847 was that which created a two-mill tax, the fund arising from which to be exclusively applied to the payment of the State indebtedness, other than canal and school liabilities. The tendency in the public mind to honorably liquidate the vast State debt for which the internal improvement system was chiefly responsible, notwithstanding there was still an active minority who favored repudiation in whole or part, was evident in the adoption of the fifteenth article of the con- stitution ; and former Governor Ford, now in retirement and soon to pass from his useful earthly labors, was among the thousands of the honorable men of the State who rejoiced at all the constitutional safeguards provided against the human tendency to shift chafing burdens upon the shoulders of coming generations. The constitution, as adopted by the convention, was submitted to the people at the election held on March 6, 1848, and ratified by a vote of 59,887 to 15,859. The Mexican war had been fought and won during a portion of the Ford administration and that of Augustus C. French. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed about a month before the new constitution of Illinois was ratified by the people. Although the war was a democratic measure, unfor- tunately for the success of the party in the presidential election of 1848 the great hero and military figure of that conflict with Mexico by which the United states acquired a southern empire was a whig. General Zachary Taylor was therefore adopted by the whigs as their political leader and rushed into the presidential chair. The population of the Rock River Valley was then so small (about 60,000), and neither party had a noticeable preponderance, that its vote had but little effect upon the general result of the election. But the whigs in the state made so determined a fight for their candidate that they nearly overcame the normal democratic majority of 10,000 or 12,000 — the vote being, for Lewis Cass 56,300 and for Taylor, 53,047. 198 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY LEE COUNTY WHIGS FIRST PROPOSE TAYLOR FOR PRESIDENT Although the whigs did not force a majority of the State electors to vote for Taylor, they did proudly claim that they were the first of their party in the United States to propose his name for the presidency; and that claim was made specifically by the whigs of Lee County. Finally, that claim has been positively voiced by no less an authority than Hon. E. B. "Washburne — stalwart whig and afterward republican, congressional veteran, secretary of state, min- ister to Prance and cultured citizen of the world. In 1848, as a young Ga^na lawyer and partner of Charles S. Hempstead, he was just entering the national field of his fame, and wrote of that time : ' ' The Galena lawyers of that day also attended the Lee County courts. Hempstead, Drummond, Hoge (ex-con- gressman), and Campbell, were men who would adorn the bar of any country. I never attended a term of the court at Dixon, but you may remember (ad- dressing John Dixon) speeches made at a meeting during the land sale in the spring of 1847, and just after the battle of Buena Vista, at which we nom- inated General Taylor for president. It was the first meeting in the whole country to make that nomination." CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM ROCK RIVER VALLEY After Hon. Thomas J. Turner, of Freeport the next resident of the Rock River Valley to represent his district in Congress was Dr. Richard S. Molony, of Belvidere, Boone County. He served in the Thirty-second Congress, in 1851-53, and represented the Fourth District, which then embraced seventeen counties (including Cook), Boone being the only county in the Rock River Val- ley of Illinois. In the congressional apportionment of 1852, the Illinois counties of the Rock River Valley were distributed among three districts. Boone, Winnebago, Steph- enson and Ogle were four of the eight counties in the First District, which was represented by E. B. Washburne of Galena continuously for five sessions com- mencing with the Thirty-third of 1853-55. Although he never resided in the Rock River Valley, his travels and investigations in behalf of his constituents made him a widely known and highly honored man in that section of the State. The apportionment of that year also brought Lee, Whiteside and Rock Island counties into the Second District, which also included Cook, Du Page, Kane and DeKalb. Thus were the people of the Rock River Valley identified with the able, massive and remarkable John Wentworth (Long John) of Chicago. Henry was the only county in the Valley which was represented in the Fourth Congressional District, which sent James Knox, of Knoxville, to Wash- ington for two terms. LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTING Under the constitution of 1848 the State was divided into twenty-five sena- torial districts, Rock Island and Henry counties being placed in the Nine- teenth, Ogle and Lee, in the Twenty-second, Stephenson and Whiteside in the Twenty-third, and Boone and Winnebago, in the Twenty-fourth. The pro- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 199 portion between the members of the two houses was twenty-five senators to Beventy-five representatives. Whiteside and Lee formed the Forty-fourth Rep- resentative District: Ogle County was in the Forty-fifth; Stephenson, in the Forty-sixth; Winnebago comprised the Forty-seventh, and Boone County was in the Kifty-second. The apportionment of hs.">4 maintained the same ratio of senators and rep- resentatives, although rearranging the counties. The Third Senatorial District e prised Boone, Winnebago and Ogle counties; the Fourth, Stephenson; the Fifth, Lee and Whiteside, and the Ninth, Rock Island and Henry. OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY EXTENSION IN ILLINOIS The year 1854 cast Illinois into the maelstrom of national polities whirling around the issue of the extension of slavery northward. The Missouri Com- promise restricted the extension of slavery to the line of 36 degrees 30 minutes north, hut the Kansas-Nehraska bill which passed Congress in May, 1854, de- clared that "Congress should not legislate slavery into any territory or state, or exclude it therefrom, but leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Con- stitution of the United States." On the basis of "free soil" it was proposed to erect the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. As chairman of the Com- mitte on Territories, which originally introduced the measure, Stephen A. Douglas, although at first personally opposed to the measure, was induced to champion it as he found that the democracy as a party favored it. The popular sovereignty feature of the measure especially appealed to the rank and file, as well as to the leaders, of the party. Not a few of the influential democrats did not believe in reopening the slavery issue. The old whig party was, as a body against the measure, believing that the Compromise of 1850 fathered by its idol, Henry Clay, was a wise measure and that it was dangerous to repeal it at that early day and reopen the question which had agitated and almost disrupted the country. Accessions to the demo- cratic party gathered around the whig nucleus in the form of straight demo- crats, anti-Nebraska democrats, knownothings (American party), free soilers and abolitionists. ORIGIN OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY It was not long before a name arose to permanently designate the opposing forces to the democracy, which maintained a solid organization. The Kansas- Nebraska bill passed the national House of Representatives on May 24, 1854, and was signed by President Pierce six days later. It is said that the night before its final passage, there was a meeting of senators and representatives in Congress who opposed it and indorsed the plan for an organization founded upon their attitude toward the measure. No name was then suggested for the proposed organization, but at an ant i-Xebraska meeting held in Ripon, Wis- consin, on March 29, 1854, while the bill was pending in Congress, Alvan E. Bovay, a leading whig lawyer of Ripon, fastened the name Republican on the local party which he organized in that part of the State. This historic move- 200 THE ROCK RTVER VALLEY ment originated not far north of the northernmost valley of the Rock River system. As this concrete formation of the first republican organization in the country leads naturally to a consideration of other pioneer steps taken by whig leaders in the region of the Rock River Valley, it is described somewhat at length from the account given of it in Dr. M. M. Quaife's history of Wisconsin. It is as follows: "The new party came into being in response to a widespread need; yet all organized movements must have somewhere a tangible beginning, and to Alvan E. Bovay, a resident of Ripon, Wisconsin, fairly belongs the distinction of father of the party which now for seventy years (written in 1924), with but infrequent intermissions, has directed the government of the nation. Bovay was a native of New York, who had received a college education and later passed several years in New York City, engaged in reading law or teaching school. While here he served as secretary of the National Reform Association and formed an intimate friendship with Horace Greeley, then in the heyday of his power as editor of the Tribune. In 1850 he removed to the frontier town of Ripon, where he resumed the practice of law and quickly became a leading factor in the com- munity. In 1852, during the session of the whig national convention, Bovay was a guest of Greeley, and in his conversation with the great editor he pre- dicted the early downfall of the whig party,, and urged upon Greeley the desir- ability of organizing a new party under whose banner anti-slavery men of all the existing parties might unite. Greeley, however, was unconvinced of the necessity of such a move, and Bovay returned to his Wisconsin home to await the course of events. The utter rout of the whigs in the ensuing election fulfilled in part his prognostication to Greeley, and the course of events in Congress in the session of 1854 convinced him that the time was ripe for action. On Febru- ary 26th he wrote Greeley an account of the local antipathy for the Nebraska bill, and urged him to call upon its opponents to assemble in every church and schoolh ouse throughout the free states and organize under the name of the republican party. "Without waiting to learn the effect of this appeal, Bovay proceeded to stir up the citizens of Ripon and to issue the call for the holding of such a meet- ing in the Congregational Church on the evening of March 1. In this meet- ing resolutions were adopted condemning the Nebraska bill and proclaiming if it should become a law they would abandon old party organizations in favor of a new one with the design of opposing the principle of the bill. The bill shortly passed both houses of Congress (May, 1854) and the townsmen of Ripon again assembled, this time in the schoolhouse on March 20 (sic), to take the action resolved upon in their former session. ' ' Of this meeting Bovay wrote at a later time : ' I went from house to house and from shop to shop and halted men on the streets to get their names for the meeting. At that time there were not more than a hundred voters in Ripon, and by a vast deal of earnest talking I obtained fifty-three of them. We went into the little meeting as whigs, free soilers and democrats. We came out of it republicans and we were the first republicans in the Union.' This trans- formation was accomplished by formally dissolving the local whig and free soil committees and appointing a committee of five members (composed of one THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 201 whig, one democrat and three free soilers) to servo as the committee of the newly-organized party. "Not only did Bovay initiate the first definite movement for the organiza- tion of the party, but he also originated the name it has ever since borne. As early as 1852, in his conference with Greeley, lie had proposed the name repub- lican, and from this choice he never wavered. Indeed he was more solicitous about the name than about the organization. The latter, he felt confident, was bound to come, but the politicians might easily select some other name and by so doing forego a tremendous advantage. " 'A good name is a tower of strength,' wrote Bovay of this at a later time. 'Democracy is a word which charms. The influence of the name has been marvelous. Republican is its only counterpart — significant, flexible, magical — and I was determined to secure it for the new party.' " The first State convention opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska act to formally adopt the name Republican was that held at Jackson, Michigan, on July 6, 1854. Wisconsin and Vermont followed Michigan in such action on the 13th of that month. E. B. WASHBUBNE, FIBST BEPUBLICAN CONGBESSIONAL CANDIDATE Now comes Rock River Valley to the front and claims that its First Con- gressional District was the pioneer in nominating a candidate for the national House of Representatives under the name of republican. The citizens of Winnebago County, who were largely of New England blood and traditions, were among the most earnest opponents of slavery in Illinois. They were there- fore ranged rather solidly against the Kansas-Nebraska bill which drew no line for its exclusion. On August 8, 1854, a call was issued and signed by forty-six citizens of Rockford and vicinity, requesting the voters of the First Congressional District, "irrespective of party to meet at the courthouse in Rock- ford, on Wednesday, the 30th of August, either by delegates or in mass to con- sult upon the great question now at issue, and to adopt such measures as shall be deemed most efficient for combining our efforts and energies at the approach- ing congressional and state elections, so as to prevent the still further extension of slavery, and to protect the great interests of free labor and free men from being sacrificed to the interest or ambition of trading politicians." There were thirteen democrats in the convention and the others were whigs and free soilers. It was understood that E. B. Washburne would be nominated to represent the district which then included Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll and Ogle counties. The other candidates were Thomas J. Turner and Martin P. Sweet, of Freeport; James L. Loop, of Rock- ford, and Stephen A. Hurlbut, of Belvidere. A committee on resolutions, con- sisting of one member from each county, was nominated. The leaders of the movement were generally opposed to Mr. Washburne but his record in Congress had been generally approved by the people. It is said "that the Committee on Resolutions was directed somewhat by the, suggestions of Mr. Hurlbut in preparing anti-slavery resolutions so radical that Mr. Washburne, it was thought, could not accept a nomination upon them. But Mr. Washburne was equal to the occasion, and he declared the resolution met 202 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY his most hearty approval. Whereupon James Loop remarked, in language more emphatic than pious, that Washburne would swallow anything. Mr. Wash- burne was therefore nominated by this mass convention. "The claim that this was a real republican convention is sustained by a paragraph from the official minutes signed by U. D. Meacham, of Preeport, one of the secretaries. This paragraph says : ' On motion Hon. E. B. Wash- burne was nominated by acclamation as the candidate of the republican party of the Firsf Congressional District of Illinois for Congress, to be supported at the coming election.' A local newspaper, in an editorial comment on the con- vention, said: 'After settling a few other matters, the convention adjourned without day, and the republican party was supposed to be born. ' "The Belvidere Standard, edited by Ralph Roberts, an anti-Nebraska demo- crat, did not recognize Mr. Washburne 's ability. A lengthy editorial on the convention contained this paragraph : ' The speeches were mainly short, but they were pointed and practical, except Washburne 's. He may be a practical man, but he gets off more hifalutin, bombastic nonsense, when he speaks on the slavery question, than any other man we ever knew.' "The regular whig convention for the First District was held at Rockford one week later, September 6th. Mr. Washburne was nominated and, with the support of newly-made republicans and old whigs, was elected in November." The anti-Nebraska convention held at Springfield in October adopted a plat- form in harmony with what afterward became the principles of the repub- lican party. The name, however, was not adopted, although Abraham Lincoln in a letter to Rev. Ichabod Codding, the Congregational minister and anti- slavery lecturer, refers to the republican party, and Zebina Eastman, a leading Chicago editor, in publishing the call stated the purpose of the convention was "the organization of a party which shall put the government upon a republican tack and secure to non-slaveholders throughout the Union their just and constitutional weight and influence in the councils of the nation." The campaign of 1854, when the republican party was taking form under the name it has since borne, first brought Douglas and Lincoln in opposition on the great questions of the day. Judge Douglas had just commenced his second term in the United States Senate. Mr. Lincoln had served some years in the lower house of the General Assembly and one term in Congress and had again been returned to the Legislature in the birth-year of the republican party. The reputation of Douglas was already established ; that of Lincoln yet to be. NORTHERN ILLINOIS GROWING IN POLITICAL INFLUENCE When the Nineteenth General Assembly convened on January 1, 1855, it was found that the anti-Nebraska party, variously but not generally christened republican, had a majority of three. Thomas J. Turner, of Stephenson County, who had served one term in Congress from his district, was elected speaker of the house. A United States senator was to be selected to succeed General James Shields, of Springfield, and as Lincoln learned that there was a strong oppo- sition against the general succeeding himself the popular member from Sanga- mon County decided to become a candidate. Lincoln therefore declined to THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 20H receive his credentials and at the special election called to till the vacancy a democrat was elected. Qeneral Shields received the caucus nomination of the democrats without opposition, but. in the first of the ten joint ballots taken in the Legislature Lincoln led Shields by four votes. That was the nearest Mr. Lincoln came to being elected. There was much shifting of votes between Shields, Lincoln, Governor Joel A. Matteson and Lyman Trumbull. Finally, the contest nar- rowed to Trumbull and Matteson, and as on the tenth ballot Lincoln threw his support to the former, Trumbull was elected. The senator-elect came from an eminent Xew England family. As a judge he was highly respected for his ability and uprightness, but had few qualities which made for popular attrac- tion. His appearance was more that of a studious college professor than of a political leader. Hut he had early taken a decided stand against the repeal of the .Missouri Compromise, and at the last election had been sent to Con- gress from the Alton district as a strong anti-Nebraska democrat. Of the sena- tors voting for Trumbull but three resided south of Springfield, and of the representatives, only six; thus manifesting for the first time the increased growth and preponderating influence in politics of Northern Illinois. The choice of Mr. Turner, of Freeport, for the speakership of the House of Repre- sentatives was also a pointer to the political drift. In Northern Illinois was born the republican party of the State. REAL BIRTH OP REPUBLICANISM The Springfield convention of October, 1854, was dominated by the abolition- ists and adjourned without making any organization or adopting the name of any party. The movement which resulted in the birth of the republican party as a State organization was inaugurated by Paul Selby, editor of the Jackson- ville .Journal, in January, 1856, who suggested a conference of the anti-Nebraska editors of Illinois to discuss a reconciliation and organization of the factions composing the opposition to the democratic policy on the slavery question. The first endorsement came from the Winchester (Scott County) Chronicle, then under the editorship of the late John Moses and many years afterward author of the State history from which the writer has often drawn for data in the course of this narrative. As an aside, it may be added that he had the privilege of an intimate association with both these stanch republicans after they had seen the party which they nurtured in its infancy grow to robust maturity and whose achievements they were still carefully recording. EDITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM ROCK RIVER VALLEY The Illinois State Chronicle, published at Decatur, announced a similar approval and, upon the suggestion of that publication, Decatur was chosen as the place of meeting and February 22nd as the date. A formal call for an editorial conference was issued, wdiich was endorsed by twenty-five newspapers. Among these were the Tribune, Staats Zeitung and Journal, of Chicago, and the Pike County Press, then edited by the late John G. Nicolay, who became private secretary and later a biographer of Abraham Lincoln. 204 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY A heavy snow blocked the trains and prevented a number from attending at the appointed time. The even dozen who participated in the historic pro- ceedings were : Dr. Charles H. Ray, Chicago Tribune ; George Schneider, Chi- cago Staats Zeitung; 0. P. "Wharton, Rock Island Avertiser; E. C. Daugh- erty, Rockford Register; E. W. Blaisdell, Jr., Rockford Republican; B. F. Shaw, Dixon Telegraph; V. Y. Ralston, Quincy Whig; Thomas J. Pickett, Peoria Republican ; Charles Faxon, Princeton Post ; A. N. Ford, Lacon Gazette ; W. J. Usrey, Decatur Chronicle, and Paul Selby, Jacksonville Journal. An examina- tion of the foregoing list indicates that the prevailing anti-Nebraska sentiment, as voiced by the press, was in Western and Northern Illinois. Both Chicago and Rockford sent two representatives to the Decatur meeting, George Schnei- der, of the Staats Zeitung, being an able exponent of the strongly rising repub- licanism among the Germans of Illinois. Paul Selby was elected president and Mr. Usrey, secretary, of the newspaper convention at Decatur. After adopt- ing strong anti-Nebraska resolutions, it recommended the holding of a State convention at Bloomington for the nomination of officers and the selection of delegates to the national convention. The State Central Committee which developed from the editorial conven- tion was composed of men from Northern Illinois, with the exception of one member from Springfield, and issued the call and arranged for the famous Bloomington convention of May 29, 1856. The Committee on Resolutions had the advantage of a conference with Mr Lincoln — the only outsider admitted to the deliberations of the conference. As far as slavery was concerned, the platform adopted was considered conserva- tive. It disavowed any intention of interfering with slavery in the states; protested against the introduction of slavery into territory already free; de- manded the restoration of the Missouri Compromise ; opposed know nothingism, which had swept the country as Americanism, and stood strongly for reform in the State Government. THE BLOOMINGTON CONVENTION The conference adopted an independent resolution recommending that a state convention be held at Bloomington on May 29th, and a State Central Committee was appointed consisting of one member from each congressional district and two for the State-at-large. Of these members, Selden M. Church of Rockford represented the First District and Judge Ira 0. Wilkinson, of Rock Island, the State-at-large. With three exceptions, the committee united in call- ing the convention at Bloomington. At the banquet tendered the editors in the evening by the citizens of Decatur, Lincoln made the principal address and urged as the gubernatorial nominee William H. Bissell, a popular and brave officer in the Mexican war and later an able member of Congress. Judge John Moses writes of this epochal convention at Bloomington: "Al- though not called as such — the name, indeed, being nowhere used in the pro- ceedings — this convention, which was held at Bloomington, May 29, 1856, has ever since been designated as the first Illinois republican state convention. It was really a mass meeting as well as a representative body. "Thirty counties, principally in the southern portion of the State, sent no delegates; and many of those who were present from southern and central THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 205 counties were self-appointed, with no constituency behind them. Other counties were represented not only by the regular delegates but also by large numbers of influential citizens, who w-ere present to cooperate in the endorsement of the movement by voice and pen and by giving it needed financial support. "It was a famous gathering and marked the commencement of a new era in the politics of the State. All those who subsequently became leaders of the republican party were there — whigs, democrats, know-nothings and abolitionists. Those who all their lives had been opposing and fighting each other found them- selves for the first time harmoniously sitting side by side, consulting and shout- ing their unanimous and enthusiastic accord." The delegates sent to the Bloomington convention by the people of the Illinois Rock River Valley were as follows: Boone County — Luther W. Lawrence and Ralph Roberts. Henry County — J. II. Howe and J. M. Allen. Lee County — E. M. Ingals and J. V. Eustace. Rock Lsland County— N. C. Tyrrell, R. II. Andrews, John V. Cook and Ira 0. Wilkinson. Stephenson County — N. P. Sweet, John H. Davis, George Nolbrecht and II. X. Hibbard. Whiteside County — William Manahan and William Protrow. Winnebago County — F. Burnass, W. Lyman, S. M. Church and T. D. Robertson. ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, HOTBED OP ABOLITIONISM As Winnebago was one of the whig strongholds in the state, so was Rock Island County the hotbed of abolitionism in Illinois. Moline, especially, which had been founded by men from New England and the East, was one of the busiest stations of the Underground Railway in the State and several fugitive slaves found refuge at the homes of its citizens. Parson A. B. Hitchcock de- livered his fiery sermons from the Congregational pulpit of Moline, and John Deere, the plow manufacturer, was among the strongest abolitionists of the place. The Free Soilers of Kansas found moral and material support among the cit- izens of Moline, and one of their number, George W. Bell, was killed when Quantrell, the pro-slavery leader, raided Lawrence, Kansas. Deacon and 'Squire N. C. Tyrrell, one of the delegates to the Bloomington convention, was one of the chief agents of the Underground Railway in Rock Island County. In his "Beginnings of the Republican Party in Illinois," William A. Meese, a leading citizen and enthusiastic historian of Moline, pays this homely tribute to the faithfulness of Deacon Tyrrell: "The Deacon was comparatively a poor man and while he gave $25 toward assisting the Free Soil people of Kansas he could scarce afford it. In those days to get from Moline to Bloomington one had either to go by stage via Peoria, or by rail to La Salle, ami then on the Illinois Central to Bloomington. The Deacon was bound to attend the convention and not having the money started out on foot and walked the entire distance. On his return trip he walked from Bloomington to Peoria, and from there he worked his passage on a boat to La Salle, whence he paid his fare to Moline. 206 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY "Deacon Tyrrell was a man of strong principles. He attended the Bloom- ington convention because he believed it was his duty, and his course stands out in strong contrast to many of the delegates of today." The platform adopted in convention was republican in principle although not in name, and the personnel of the ticket selected was a concession to the old whig and democratic elements, as no radical republican received recognition. Some of the delegates spoke and some of those not officially present, such as John Dixon, of Dixon, voiced their sentiments. The last speaker was Abraham Lincoln, who made what some historians pronounce the greatest effort of his life. William H. Herndon, Lincoln's law partner at Springfield and afterward his biographer, said of this speech : ' ' He had the fervor of a new convert; the smothered flame broke out; enthusiasm, unusual to him, blazed up; his eyes were aglow with inspiration; he felt justice; his heart was alive to the right; his sympathies, remarkably deep for him, burst forth and he stood before the throne of the eternal right in the presence of his God, and then and there unburdened his penitential and fired soul." This address of Lincoln's has never been preserved to the world, and it is known as the ' ' lost speech. ' ' The reporters, not realizing the loss thus incurred to the world, threw down their pens and lived only in the inspiration of the hour. As Lincoln had recommended, the convention nominated William H. Bissell for governor. The democratic State convention named William A. Richardson as the head of the regular ticket. One June 2nd, a few days after the meeting of the republican State convention, the democrats at Cincinnati nominated James Buchanan for the presidency, Senator Douglas being among his opponents. Then on June 17th, two weeks later, the first national republican convention met in Philadelphia and nominated John C. Fremont as head of the ticket and Lincoln was a close second for the vice-presidency. Millard Fillmore was the presidential candidate of the know-nothings, or American party, and a State ticket was also put in the field by that organization. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1856 The campaign of 1856 was one of the most exciting and bitter of any ever waged in Illinois; for it was war throughout, and even John M. Palmer, who had presided at the Bloomington convention, was so infuriated at the abuse of one of his opponents as to threaten the use of the pistol. LINCOLN IN OGLE COUNTY Lincoln himself took an active part in the campaign, especially in those sec- tions of the State where the votes of the two chief parties were fairly equally divided. A case in point was Ogle County and the mass meeting which he addressed at Oregon in August was one of the most enthusiastic of the cam- paign. A graphic account of this notable event in the political history of the Rock River Valley is thus given in the Kauffman history of Ogle County: "Mr. Lincoln came to Oregon from Dixon by way of Polo, going to Polo over the THE HOCK RIVEB VALLEY 207 then recently completed Illinois Central Railway, and driving the rest of the way accompanied by Senator Zenas Applington, .John I). Campbell and J. W. Carpenter, on the morning of August 16th. The speaking took place in the grove in North Oregon, at or near the boulder now marking the spot and com- memorating the occurrence. "A fellow speaker with Mr. Lincoln was John Wentworth, of Chicago, a former democrat and congressman of the Second District, familiarly known as Dong John. Mr. Lincoln had been in the Illinois Legislature and one term in Congress (1847-49), after winch lie had resumed the practice of the law, and had not taken much part in public affairs until called forward at the organiza- tion of the republican party by Ins hatred of slavery. Judge Campbell recalls that the posters gave Wentworth's name first, in letters twice the size of those used for Lincoln 's name. "The occasion was the opening of the campaign in Ogle County. Went- worth spoke first for an hour or more. As Lincoln began his speech, a branch of the oak tree under which had been erected the platform on which the speaker stood, touched his head and disturbed him. Taking from his pocket a huge jack-knife he cut away a portion of the limb, remarking as he did so, 'I don't see how John got along with this.' John was himself over six feet in height. "Both speakers urged the election of the republican ticket. There were also present on the platform Martin F. Sweet, of Freeport, and John F. Farnsworth, of St. Charles, the latter then candidate for Congress in the Second District. Following Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Sweet briefly addressed the audience. It is said that more than half the population of the county was present." The four speakers were entertained at Moore's Hotel, afterward the Rock River House, where after dinner they shook hands with such of the citizens as desired to meet them. After the speaking they were taken to the law office of Henry A. Mix and still later to his home. Mr. Lincoln was asked by Mr. Mix what he thought were the chances of Fremont's election, and replied: "Mr. .Mix. as an attorney, what is your opinion of the value of a tax-title in Illinois?" As Fremont failed of election, Mr. Lincoln's suggestion of the uncertainty that lay in his own mind was evidence of his political sagacity. In (I'iV County, Fremont received 899 votes, Buchanan 755 and Fillmore 294 : a showing which indicated a strange division of sentiment. In the State at large, the republicans carried the State ticket and elected Bissell, but the electoral vote went to Buchanan because of the support given Fillmore and his know-nothings. The republicans elected four congressmen and the democrats five. The democrats also secured both branches of the Legislature, although tiny had a small majority on joint ballot. The Senate stood: Dem- ocrats, 13; republicans, 12; the house as follows: Democrats, 38; republicans, • !1 : know-nothings. 6. The long ascendancy of the democratic party had been arrested in Illinois. DOUGLAS AM) LINCOLN, THE ILLINOIS LEADERS The animosities of the campaign were carried into the Legislature and kept alive in the House during the entire session, which ended in February, 1857. 208 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY But State politics were soon to be aligned on national controversies which should decisively divide the country between two great parties. In Illinois, by common consent, the spokesmen for the people and the expounder of the vital problems then seething and taking definite form were Lincoln and Douglas. If any excuse was needed for bringing to the front these masterly politicians and statesmen, it was that there was nothing of moment before the Legislature and the State except the contest for the United States senatorship made necessary by the approaching end of Douglas's term. No other worthy opponent appeared to discuss the questions of the day, the hour, the minute, with the Little Giant, than the lank, droll, diplomatic and eloquent lawyer from Springfield. Lincoln was then approaching his fortieth year, had already met Douglas in debate upon several occasions, during which he had given a good account of himself, and at the Bloomington convention had electrified the State and the Nation by the direct and concentrated fire of his words. DOUGLAS SPLITS WITH BUCHANAN Events moved with tragic rapidity to give national significance to the ex- position of the current questions which were so profoundly agitating all classes. On the very day that the Illinois Legislature adjourned, the Territorial Legis- lature of Kansas passed an enabling act for admission into the Union as a State. Delegates from about one-half of the counties were elected in June and Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, whom President Buchanan had appointed governor of the Territory of Kansas, refused to accept the office without the assurance from the democratic administration that the proposed State constitution should be submitted to the people before being sent to Washington for congressional action. Otherwise Governor Walker pledged himself to use his best efforts to defeat the admission of Kansas under the constitution adopted by the coming convention. On his way westward, Governor Walker called upon Douglas in Chicago and to make the Illinois leader clearly understand the conditions under which he accepted his trust read his inaugural address to Douglas. It had been modified slightly in the handwriting of Buchanan, which drew forth the remark from Douglas that he did not understand what right the President had to in- terfere with the convention and domestic affairs. Douglas, however, did not hesitate to declare that he would not support the Kansas constitution without being convinced that it embodied the popular will. The Lecompton convention met on the 5th of September, 1857, and after adopting a constitution adjourned until after the October election, which, after the rejection of fraudulent votes was given to the free-soil party. As the pro- slavery delegates in the convention, however, were in the majority, it was de- termined to submit the constitution to the people in such a form that to subscribe to it as a whole it was necessary to vote upon the slavery issue. The ballot read : "For the constitution with slavery, For the constitution with no slavery." If the vote were challenged (as it would be, by some pro-slavery man if the form was "with no slavery,") the voter was required to take an oath to support the constitution, which expressly recognized slavery. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 209 Douglas and Buchanan split, squarely on the Lecompton constitution. The Illinois senator insisted that, as pledged by the administration, that instrument should be submitted to the Kansas people as a whole; Buchanan and his sup- porters claimed that the obligation of the administration extended only to the submission of the slavery question of the decision of popular sovereignty. The position assumed by Buchanan in behalf of the national democracy was quite contrary to the record and character of Senator Douglas for honorable dealing both with individuals and the public. As he had been barred from administra- tion counsels since his differences with Buchanan that portion of the President's inaugural message dealing with the Lecompton constitution surprised him; but when its last line had been read he arose and spoke as follows: "Before I yield the floor, I desire simply to state that I have listened to the message with great pleasure and concur cordially with the greater part of it and in most of the views expressed; but in regard to one topic — that of Kansas — I totally dissent from all that portion of the message which may fairly be construed as approving of the proceedings of the Lecompton convention. At an early period, I shall avail myself of an opportunity to state my reasons for this dissent, and also to vindicate the right of the people of the Territory of Kansas to be left perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way according to the organic act." At the pro-slavery election of December 21, 1857, the free-State men generally declined to vote. Therefore, the vote for "the constitution with slavery" was 6,226; for "the constitution with no slavery," 569. The free-State Legislature passed an act for the submission of the entire constitution to be held January 4, 1858. Upon that day, 10,226 votes were cast against the Lecompton constitution; 138 for "the constitution with slavery," and 23, for "the constitution with no slavery." Passing over the intricacies of the debates and legislation in Congress, it is to the point of this article to know that the original bill accepting the Lecompton constitution was rejected in April, 1858, and what was known as the English bill, or Lecompton Junior, was submitted to the people in August. That bill carried with it the promise from Congress that if the constitution should be adopted it would pass over to the State of Kansas a valuable land grant. Evidently the voters viewed the proposition as did Douglas — that it was a plain bribe to carry tin' constitution, for the vote showed that they had cast 11,300 ballots against the bill, and only 1,788 for it. The breach between Douglas and Buchanan was widening day by day. The Dred Scott decision, which had been withheld until after the election <>f 1856 was handed down a few days after the inauguration of Buchanan in March, 1857. Southern statesmen claimed that it declared, in effect, the uncon- stitutionality of the Missouri Compromise and left Kansas as a territory open to the settlement of slave owners with their slaves. Douglas always claimed that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional even before it was repealed by the Nebraska act, which left the question of slavery to be settled by popular sovereignty. Then came the struggle over the Lecompton constitution and its final extinguishment by the voters of Kansas, with Douglas still standing upon the principle of a decision of the question by a vote of the people. 210 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION NOMINATES LINCOLN FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE On June 16, 1858, the Republican State Convention met at Springfield and unanimously nominated Lincoln to succeed Douglas in the United States Senate. Realizing that he would have no opposition, he had prepared a speech to deliver before the convention. As was his custom, he had written it on scraps of paper carried in his tall "stove-pipe" hat, which he revised and copied at length be- fore submitting it to his friends and political leaders. None of them approved of its radical and sharp-cut sentiments. Douglas still clung to the belief that slavery could be regulated by the popular will and voice; others by some wiser compromise than had been offered; but Lincoln had reached the bold decision upon which rested the platform of the abolitionists. His position was stated in the portion of his address which has been quoted as often as his entire Gettys- burg speech: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half -slave and half-free. I do not ex- pect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinguishment, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old and new, North as well as South." DOUGLAS OPENS HIS CAMPAIGN On July 9, 1858, Douglas arrived in Chicago from Washington, was enthu- siastically received and opened the campaign for the senatorship at the old Tremont House. His close rival, Lincoln, was there, and there was the usual clash of wits and intellect ; but the real battle was to come. A week afterward, Douglas left for Springfield to consult with the Democratic Central Committee and arrange for his speaking appointments. He spoke at Bloomington. Lincoln was called upon to respond and declined, holding that the meeting was called primarily by the friends of Judge Douglas and that it would be improper for him to address it. ARRANGEMENT FOR THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES OF 1858 While in Springfield, Douglas and his Central Committee prepared a partial list of appointments for meetings over the State running to August 21st, and Lincoln and his friends prepared another list. The lists clashed in places, and on July 21st, Lincoln penned a note to Douglas suggesting the arrangement of the joint debates which have become historical. No two men in Illinois had been brought together oftener, or drawn larger and more enthusiastic audiences than Douglas and Lincoln. Although the Little Giant did not decline to meet the Big Giant, he honestly stated his objections to the arrangement to a friend. "Between you and me," he writes, "I do not feel that I want to go into this debate. The whole country knows me and lias me measured. Lincoln, as re- gards myself, is comparatively unknown, and if he gets the best of this debate — THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 211 and I want to say he is the ablest man the republicans have got — I shall lose everything. Should I win, I shall gain but little. I do not want to go into a debate with Lincoln." After much correspondence back and forth, the two leaders and their com- mittees agreed upon the following as the dates and places of the joint debate: Ottawa, La Salle County, August 21, 1858. Frecport, Stephenson County, August 27. Jonesboro, Union County, September 15. Charleston, Coles County, September 18. Galesburg, Knox County, October 7. Quincy, Adams County, October 13. Alton, Madison County, October 15. Books have been written about these Lincoln-Douglas debates in which the entire slavery issue of the day was turned around and around, upside down and downside up, ventilated and re-ventilated, by these students and masters of politics and politicians and by these philosophers of State and national affairs. The stand already firmly taken by Douglas and Lincoln was restated in detail, but not especially re-elucidated. The personalities of the principals were con- trasted before the world, as their speeches were broadcast throughout the uni- verse. Although Douglas won the senatorship when the test came in the Legis- lature, Lincoln achieved the enduring fame feared by his great-minded opponent. THE MEETING AT FREEPORT At the first meeting held at Ottawa, Judge Douglas propounded to Lincoln a series of seven questions dealing with the Fugitive Slave Law, and the admis- sion of States and the treatment of territories by congress in regard to the pro- hibition of slavery. They Avere asked upon the basis of the charge that Lincoln had taken a stand against the Fugitive Slave Law and the admission of any more slave states into the Union in the Springfield convention of October, 1854. Lincoln was introduced to the audience at the second, or the Freeport meeting, by Thomas J. Turner, who, after Lincoln had denied that he was even present at the Springfield convention, said that he was the author of the resolutions to which Douglas claimed Lincoln had subscribed. As the force of the questions put by Douglas rested upon Lincoln's support of these resolutions, the absolute completeness and conclusiveness of the denial made at the Freeport meeting, with Lincoln's direct and categorical answers to the other questions propounded by Douglas, knocked the support from the foundation of the case which the Little Giant had endeavored to press against his adversary. The extract from Lincoln's Freeport speech which bears upon the fundamentals is this: "As introductory to these interrogatories which Judge Douglas propounded to me at Ottawa, he read a set of resolutions which he said Judge Trumbull and myself had participated in adopting in the first republican state ((invention held at Springfield in October, 1854. He insisted that I and Judge Trumbull and perhaps the entire republican party were responsible for the doctrines contained in the set of resolutions which he read, and I understand that it was from the set of resolutions that he deduced the interrogatories which he propounded to me, using these resolutions as a sort of authority for pro- Tol. 1—14 212 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY pounding these questions to me. Now, I say here today that I do not answer his interrogatories because of their springing at all from that set of resolutions which he read. I answered them because Judge Douglas thought fit to ask them. "I do not now, nor never did recognize any responsibility upon myself in that set of resolutions. When I replied to him upon that occasion, I assured him that I never had anything to do with them. I repeat here today that I never in any possible form had any tiling to do with that set of resolutions. It turns out, I believe, that those resolutions were never passed in any convention held in Springfield. It turns out that they were never passed at any convention or any public meeting that I had any part in. I believe it turns out, in addition to all this, that there was not, in the fall of 1854, any convention holding a session in Springfield, calling itself a Republican State Convention ; yet it is true that there was a convention, at Springfield, that did pass some resolutions. But so little did I really know of the proceedings of that convention, or what set of resolutions they had passed, though having a general knowledge that there had been an assemblage of men there, that when Judge Douglas read the resolu- tions, I really did not know but they had been the resolutions passed then and there. I did not question that they were the resolutions adopted. For I could not bring myself to suppose that Judge Douglas could say what he did upon this subject without knowing that it was true. I contented myself on that occasion with denying, as I truly could, all connection with them, not denying or affirming whether they were passed at Springfield. "Now, it turns out that he has got hold of some resolutions passed at some convention or public meeting in Kane County. I wish to say here that I don't conceive that in any fair and just mind this discovery relieves me at all. I had just as much to do with that convention in Kane County as that at Springfield. I am just as much responsible for the resolutions at Kane County as that at Springfield — the amount of the responsibility being exactly nothing in either case; no more than there would be to a set of resolutions passed in the moon." Lincoln concluded this phase of his speech by expressing his astonishment that a man of Judge Douglas's world-wide fame should have been so unfair and reckless as to make such positive charges without careful investigations as to their truth. Lincoln's astonishment of that day has descended to this day. Lincoln then turned about and propounded four questions to Judge Douglas. By the common consent of historians, local, national and international, the answer which Douglas made to Lincoln's second question split the democratic party into Northern and Southern factions, made Douglas the leader of the former and forever ruined his chances for the presidency. Lincoln's second question: "Can the people of a United States Territory, in any lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a State Constitution ? ' ' Reply of Douglas: "1 answer emphatically, as Mr. Lincoln has heard me answer a hundred times from every stump in Illinois, that in my opinion the people of a Territory can, by lawful means, exclude slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State constitution. Mr. Lincoln knew that I had answered that question over and over again. He heard me argue the Nebraska bill on that principle all over the State in 1854, in 1855 and in 1856, and he has no excuse for pretending to be in doubt as to my position on that question. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 213 It matters not what way the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract question whether slavery may or may not go into a Territory under the ('oust it ut ion — the people have the lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a day or an hour any- where, unless it is supported by local police regulations. Those police regula- tions can only be established by the local Legislature; and if the people are opposed to slavery, they will elect representatives to that body who will by unfriendly legislation effectually prevent the introduction of it in their midst. I f. on the contrary they are for it, their legislation will favor its extension. Hence, no matter what the decision of the Supreme Court may be on that abstract question, still the right of the people to make a Slave Territory or a Free Territory is perfect and complete under the Nebraska Bill." This was subsequently designated as Douglas's "Freeport Doctrine" or "Theory of Unfriendly Legislation." As Douglas intimated, Lincoln was well aware of the consistent position Avhich his rival had repeatedly defined, but he won his point of having it redefined with new precision and a telling force sur- charged evidently with considerable indignation. The joint debates did not prevent Douglas from being reelected to the United States Senate by a majority of eight votes, but went far toward carrying the republican State ticket and electing Lincoln to the presidency two years after- ward. It is said that Lincoln, as was his custom, when about to take a radical step in politics, consulted his confidential friends rather than the body of the party leaders, and that their concensus of opinion as to the policy of forcing an answer from Judge Douglas on the second question was that, if he did, he could never be senator. The sequel to the story was his reported answer: "Gentle, men, I am killing larger game. If Douglas answers, he can never be president, and the coming battle of 1860 is worth a hundred of this." THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860 With the opening of the year 1860, Mr. Lincoln's name was frequently mentioned by the republicans for the presidency, as was that of Judge Douglas by the northern wing of the democracy. It is said that the first organized presidential effort in behalf of Lincoln was made at a meeting in the office of the secretary of state at Springfield, and it was attended by some of the most prominent citizens of Chicago. Lincoln hesitated; but in February, in response to an invitation from a New York committee, he visited the metropolis, made his famous Cooper Institute speech, captured New York and afterward New Eng- land, received a great ovation on his return to Springfield and became the marked man of the country. On the 9th of May, the Republican State Conven- tion met at Decatur, and after an impassioned speech by Richard J. Oglesby, Lincoln was indorsed for the presidency. Richard Yates was nominated for governor. A week later, the National Republican Convention assembled at Chicago. The leading candidates were Seward and Lincoln and on the third ballot, the Illinois man was nominated. Eventually, or during the progress of the last ballot, the nomination was made unanimous. During the preceding month, the Democratic National Convention at Charleston, South Carolina, had been obliged to adjourn without agreeing upon 214 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY a nominee, and more than a month after the republican convention had unani- mously nominated Lincoln, the democrats held another convention at Baltimore without agreeing upon a candidate. They did worse, the northern democrats named Douglas for their candidate and the southern, John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky. The Constitutional, or Union Party, successors of the old whigs and know-nothing organizations, put forward John Bell, of Tennessee. As a party, the republicans were united ; the democracy was split into antagonistic fragments. The campaign of 1860 was fierce and bewildering. The republican party in Illinois was so compact and rich in strong orators that for the first time in twenty years Lincoln's voice was not heard. Douglas, on the other hand, broke all precedents for a presidential candidate and went directly before the people. In this campaign the Rock River Valley was wide awake. One of the greatest rally days for the republicans was September 1st, at Rockford. The special attraction was Cassius M. Clay, the celebrated Kentucky orator, and it Avas estimated that 12,000 people packed the courthouse square to listen to him. He was introduced by Judge S. M. Church. During September and October a series of joint discussions was held by Judge Allen C. Fuller, of Belvidere, and John A. Rawlins, of Galena. One debate was held in each county of the First Congressional District, which then comprised Lake, McHenr}^, Boone, Winne- bago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll and Ogle. Judge Fuller was the repub- lican candidate for presidential elector and Mr. Rawlins was the candidate of the Douglas democracy. These debates have a historic interest by reason of the subsequent prominence of the participants. Judge Fuller became the war adjutant of the State and the able supporter of Governor Yates. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861, Mr. Rawlins publicly advocated coercive measures, and it is said that it was partly through his influence that General Grant tendered his services to the Government. He served on the staff of General Grant from the time Grant was given command of a brigade until the close of the war. He was advanced from step to step until he reached the grade of a major general and in 1869 was appointed secretary of war by President Grant. The result of the campaign of 1860 was to give the republicans to Illinois for the first time. The Lincoln electors received 172,171 votes ; Douglas, 160,205 ; Union party, 4,913; independent democrats, 2,332. The republicans carried four congressional districts and the democrats, five. E. B. Washburne was returned from the First, The republicans also controlled the Legislature by a majority of one in the Senate and seven in the House. Lincoln's foresight of becoming a "big game hunter" and captor was realized, although his ultimate fame was to be earned in agonies which brought to him the sweating of blood over the horrors of the Civil war. THE POLITICS OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN The Southern Wisconsin of the Rock River Valley was politically agitated for more than two decades before the outbreak of the Civil war, but it was largely over local questions, among which the county seat contests loomed large. Dane was spared such trials, as no town arose to contest the claims of Madison. But Jefferson, Dodge and Rock were in continuous turmoil over their "per- THE BOCK BIVEB \ ALLEY 215 manent" seats of justice, which remained fixed only long enough for the con- testants to gather fresh breath and strength. The prevailing politics of the counties was virtually determined by the preponderance of racial settlement. ROCK COUNTY A Willi! AM) REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD The early population of Rock County was largely of New England and New York origin, and was stamped as a whig stronghold until the republican party took form. The democratic following was chiefly drawn from the Norwegians and Irish. After Bock was separated from Walworth County in 1845, its politics was hugely governed by the rivalries between Janesville and Beloit. It must be said, however, thai the whigs usually mustered the strongest leaders. CHIEF JUSTICE WIIITON AND THE GLOVER DECISION Among the most prominent was Edward V. Whiton, of Janesville, during the last six years of his life chief justice of the State Supreme Court. In the spring of 1854, while Chief Justice "Whiton was sitting as the head of that bench, Joshua Glover, the negro employed near Racine, was seized by a St. Louis slave catcher and rushed to Milwaukee. There were abolitionist uprisings in Racine, Milwaukee and other places in Southern Wisconsin. Sherman M. Booth, editor of the Waukesha American Freeman, took up the case and was arrested and sentenced to fine and imprisonment for his pains. Glover was rescued by his friends and railroaded to Canada, and Booth was released on habeas corpus proceedings, Chief .Justice Whiton writing the decision which declared the Fugitive Slave act unconstitutional. It is little wonder that Rock County and the country to the north were deeply stirred by the issues of the day, and that the soil was mellow to receive the seeds which germinated into the body of the Republican party. Alvan E. Bovay, the Bipon lawyer, and L. B. Washburne, the Galena lawyer, nominated for Congress at Etockford, took bold steps in the establishment of the new party, and in the fall preceding the meeting of the Nineteenth General Assembly of Illinois, the Janesville leaders came to the front. FIRST REPUBLICAN CONVENTION IN JANESVILLE On October 12, 1854, a convention assembled at the courthouse in response to a call signed by L. P. Harvey, afterward secretary of state and governor; •John Howe, George II. Williston, Peter Schmitz, J. II. Budd, S. G. Colley, A. Ilnskins, J. Dawson and E. Vincent. The call invited the electors of Rock County "who are determined to support no man for office who is not positively and fully committed to the support of the principles announced in the Repub- lican platform adopted at Madison on the 13th of July last to meet at the court- house on the 12th of October to effect a thorough organization of the Republican party." The convention was largely attended and enthusiastic. .James Suther- land, an early settler and business man, was nominated by the convention for the State Senate, and Judge David Moggie became an independent candidate. An illustration of how seriously the citizens and office aspirants were taking 216 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the national issues of the day was the withdrawal of the republican candidate for district attorney, who, firmly of the belief that the Fugitive Slave Law was unconstitutional, refused to risk the possibility of public service until the ob- noxious measure could be finally wiped from the statutes. Matthew H. Car- penter, afterward a republican of national fame, was the democratic candidate for district attorney. In 1856, Fremont had a majority of 2,743 in Rock County for the presidency, Sutherland was elected to the State Senate a second time, and all the county officers were carried into office on the republican ticket. In fact, the Civil war saw Rock County solidly in the republican column. For a number of years before the republican party of Rock County arose in its strength, the democrats were often in power, and among their most stalwart leaders were Judge David Noggle, A. Hyatt Smith, Matt. H. Carpenter, Col. Ezra Miller and John Winans. DANE COUNTY OVERSHADOWED BY STATE POLITICS As Madison was the territorial and state capital, politics in Dane County outran local and sectional matters. It was the center of movements, cabals, parties and combinations which were wide in scope and interest, and left little to county politics. A case in point was the election for corporation officers in 1855, immediately preceding the assumption of municipal dignity. Even this event failed to cleave the electors into parties, or as one of the local papers com- mented rather apathetically : ' ' The contest, although warm in some respects, had nothing to do with politics." POLITICAL DODGE COUNTY AND ITS LEADERS Dodge County, on the other hand, was stirred from border to border by several disagreements of long standing, such as county seat disputes and even more local issues, like the Horicon dam controversy — which is even not yet settled. Its population was also less uniform than that of either Dane or Rock County. The result was a fairly equal division of the whig and democratic parties. At the first election for county organization and the location of the seat of justice, in February, 1840, the division of the voters was not so much along political lines as allegiance to the two contestants, Fox Lake and Water- town. Fox Lake did not deny that Watertown might slightly outrank her in population, but when the returns showed that her rival had a majority of 7 — 22 for Watertown to 15 for Fox Lake — the figures were at first inexplicable. Now, there lived in the Fifth Ward of Watertown, a lively Irish politician, William M. Dennis, and the night before the election he had entertained at his house 15 mill hands in the employ of Cole & Bailey of Fox Lake. He had not only entertained them, but induced them to vote for Watertown as the seat of justice of Dodge County. Further explanation as to how Fox Lake lost the county seat should be unnecessary. Mr. Dennis afterward served several terms in the State Senate, being sent from Watertown. In 1845, Dodge Center, later Juneau, was selected as the compromise seat of justice, and Mr. Dennis could concentrate on state-wide legislation. Dodge County was early settled by an intelligent and ambitious class of German citizens, of which young Carl Schurz was a typical representative. TDK ROCK RIVER VALLEY 217 Watertown was especially thus favored. William E. Smith, who subsequently became governor of the state, was a pioneer of Fox Lake, and while residing there served repeatedly in both houses of the Legislature as a whig and re- publican. A. Scott Sloan, a Dodge County man, was scut to Congress twice dining the period just before the war. Charles Billinghurst, of Watertown, was one of the original Silas Wright democrats, served in the first Legislature and held various county offices before he was elected to the Thirty-fourth Congress in 1854. The district which Mr. Billinghurst represented was then said to be the largest in the Union. He served two terms in Congress, was a strong opponent of the Missouri Compromise, and remained in the House of Repre- sentatives until the republican party was well established. Mr. Billinghurst died on August 18, 1865. Col. C. H. Larrabee was an outstanding figure both in public and military life. lie was a delegate to the second state constitutional convention of 1847-48 and an associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1848-53. He then served in the Thirty-sixth Congress and at the outbreak of the Civil war went to the front as major of the Fifth Volunteer Regiment. Subsequently he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Twenty-fourth, and commanded it until hostilities ceased. Colonel Larrabee moved to Seattle, state of Washington, after the war, and continued the practice of his profession. DEMOCRATIC JEFFERSON COUNTY The political tendency of Jefferson County was, on the whole democratic. The population was of mixed racial character, the foreign element predominat- ing; and the sympathy which the whigs manifested with the Know Nothings, or so-called American party, had the effect of attracting the citizens of foreign birth and parentage to the voting ranks of the democracy. Therefore the dem- ocrats obtained a strong foothold in the early political campaigns of Jefferson County. The delegates to the state constitutional conventions were such rock- rooted democrats as Milo Jones of Fort Atkinson and Theodore Prentiss of Watertown. Among the whig pioneers were the Cole brothers of Watertown. The last battle in Jefferson County between the whigs and democrats was fought in 1854 and the democrats carried everything before them. In I860, the long struggle over the Nebraska bill and the repeal of the Missouri compromise gave such vigor to the young republican party that the new organization carried the county for the first time; but in 1862 and 1864 the democracy was reinstated in local politics. Briefly stated, the whigs and later, the republicans, dominated Rock County before the Civil war period. Dane County was too overshadowed by state politics to have much political character as a circumscribed section of the commonwealth. Whigs, republicans and democrats made Jefferson County debatable political ground, while the democracy had the upper hand in Dodge County prior to the period which serves as a chronological limit to this chapter. The Rock River Valley of Wisconsin and Illinois had its political character determined both by local and national issues, as befits a people who are both domestic and patriotic. CHAPTER IX THE TIES THAT BIND MEANS OP TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION — EARLY STEAMBOATS AND FERRIES THE MILWAUKEE & ROCK RIVER CANAL PIONEER RAILROAD OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE GALENA & CHICAGO UNION ITS LIFE SAVED BY COUNTIES OF THE UPPER VALLEY FOUNDATION LAID OF THE CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN SYS- TEM EXTENSION OF LINES FROM MILWAUKEE INTO SOUTHERN WISCONSIN — DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL EXCITING ADVENT OF THE MILWAUKEE LINE INTO ROCKFORD THE CHICAGO & ROCK ISLAND REACHES THE MISSISSIPPI, THROUGH THE LOWER VALLEY THROWS FIRST BRIDGE ACROSS THE FATHER OF WATERS BECOMES THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC THE BURLINGTON ROUTE IN THE UPPER ROCK RIVER VALLEY ITS STERLING BRANCH TO ROCK ISLAND THE FREEPORT DIVISION OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL THE TRI- CITY BRIDGES AND STREET RAILWAYS EARLY NAVIGATION OF THE ROCK RrVER IN WINNEBAGO, OGLE AND LEE COUNTIES PROPOSED SHIP CANAL FROM LAKE MICH- IGAN TO THE WATERS OF THE UPPER ROCK THE ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL AS A GREAT CHICAGO FEEDER — THE ERA OF PLANK ROADS THE HENNEPIN CANAL AS A CUT-OFF TO THE MISSISSIPPI LARGELY AN ENTERPRISE OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY OPENED TO THE PUBLIC IN 1907 — EXTENSION OF HARD-SURFACED ROADS THE TIES THAT BIND THE VALLEY TAPPED BY LINES OF ELECTRIC CARS AND AUTOS. The Rock River Valley, like other sections of the United States, has pros- pered and expanded largely through the development of its means of trans- portation and communication. Thereby its people and communities have been bound closer and closer and have been able to cooperate in trade, business, com- merce and social life. In the early times, the means were crude and born of bald necessity — trails, ox teams and horses, sturdy legs, rivers and streams, canoes and larger water craft propelled by poles, sail and steam. The plank roads had their place ; the iron ways followed, as well as intertwined thorough- fares of cement, and another age is overlapping the present, in which the lanes of the air are being lighted, and both communication and transportation are being perfected through the artificial flight of human mechanisms. EARLY STEAMBOATS AND FERRIES The Mississippi and its tributary waterways long took the precedence of overland communication and travel in what are now Illinois and Wisconsin. With the advent of the white man of unmixed blood and instinctive love of stability and cooperation, the flotillas of Endian canoes and half-breed pirogues 218 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 219 wne invaded by that curious invention, the steamboat. It is true that Fulton's "New Orleans," when it came down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, in the winter of L812, did not move as rapidly as the skillfully propelled canoe or pirogue, but it was a great floating house, propelled by a mysterious force and held untried possibilities of cooperation between the growing communities of the great valley and its offshoots. This pioneer steamboat arrived at New Orleans on Christmas day of 1812, having achieved an average speed of three miles an hour and being destined for the lower river trade alone. Two years before, such prominent New Yorkers as De Witt Clinton, Robert Fulton, Robert R. Liv- ingston, Daniel Tompkins and Nicholas J. Roosevelt, had organized the Ohio Steamboat Navigation Company. This company had engineered a bill through the Louisiana Legislature granting to them the sole right to operate steamboats on the waters of that state for a period of fourteen years, with the privilege of renewing the charter at the end of that period. The monopoly was bitterly opposed by Captain Henry M. Shreve, owner of the steamer Washington, the first stern-wheel boat. The captain also adopted the light draft, flat-bottomed boat, well adapted to the shallow 7 waters of Louisiana; he placed his double boilers on deck instead of below, and introduced flues to the mechanism of his craft. He was ingenious, enterprising and determined. In 1814, Captain Shreve commenced his legal protest against this monopoly, and, although his position was not sustained by the United States Supreme Court until three years oi litigation had passed, he continued pluckily to navigate the w r aters of Louisiana in defiance of the State law. His was a decisive victory for the free navigation of the Mississippi and its tributary w r aters. In connection with the historic trip of the New Orleans down the Ohio and .Mississippi, it is pertinent to know that its centenary was celebrated at Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, where the steamboat was built, in October and November, 1911. A replica of the old boat had been built and was christened by Mrs. Alice (Roosevelt) Longwortb, a descendant of Nicholas Roosevelt and daughter of the former President of the United States. Afterward the model of the New Orleans made the trip accomplished so strenuously by her forebear a century previously. She stopped at the towns on the way for the purpose of holding celebrations. Rock Island being among the important places where "she tied up." At the end of three weeks she arrived at New Orleans, finding the city in gala attire for her reception. Although the growth of steamboating on western rivers was rapid, for many years the keel-boat guided and propelled by poles was the ruling form of river transportation above St. Louis. The Zebulon M. Pike, built in 1815 at Hen- derson, Kentucky, was the first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio River. She required six weeks to make her first trip from Louisville, Kentucky, to St. Louis, as she ran only in daytime, tying up at aighl to replenish her supply of wood fuel. The Pike was the first steamboat to reach St. Louis, and the first one to moor at that city from an Atlantic port was the Maid of Orleans which came by way of Philadelphia and New Orleans. She was operated by both sails and steam power. Captain Shreve, having beer supported by the highest court in the land in his contention for the free navigation of the Mississippi waters, invaded the field of the northern marine, but his career was soon terminated by the explosion of 220 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY one of the boilers of the "Washington as the steamer was leaving Marietta, Ohio. Twelve persons were killed aboard and the Captain seriously injured. By 1819, there were sixty-three steamers plying up and down the Mississippi. As they approached their ports of call, they announced their coming by dis- charging a small cannon placed in the bow. In 1823, the first steamboat arrived at Fort Armstrong over the Rock Island rapids, coincident with the first influx of white squatters upon the fertile lands at the mouth of Rock River still occu- pied by the Sauk and Foxes. Before 1830, Oliver W. Kellogg and John Boles had broken their overland trails from the Illinois River to the Galena lead regions, and travel was pouring over them from Chicago, Peoria and districts farther south. Trade and travel had also reached the eastern banks of the Mississippi and was looking for new western fields of adventure. Colonel George Davenport established his ferry across the Mississippi between Farnhamsburg and Davenport, and Bogardus, Ogee and Dixon found a like establishment on the Rock River to make travel easier from southeast to northwest and vice versa. The ferry at Rock Island was for many years one of the model establish- ments of its kind in the Mississippi Valley. The one operated by Colonel George Davenport in 1825 was replaced in popular favor by Antoine Le Claire 's estab- lishment which commenced business in 1834. There was no change of boats, as with the Davenport ferry, which required the passage of the Illinois channel of the river to Rocky Island, and thence from the landing in front of the Colonel 's residence to the Iowa shore. At first Le Claire operated flat boats, but in 1836, when he sold his establishment to Captain John Wilson new and up-to-date boats were put into the service. Up to this time, the method of summoning the ferry from the opposite shore was to yell and continue to do so until the boat was seen to start ; but Captain Wilson introduced ferry alarms in the form of hang- ing triangles of iron or steel, upon which the operator would pound with a bar or club and succeed in waking the town, if not the ferryman. Captain Wilson put on a steam ferry boat in 1842, which was later discontinued and not replaced until 1852. This was the first steam ferry on the Mississippi above St. Louis. THE MILWAUKEE & ROCK RIVER CANAL PROJECT The old-time plan to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi by a con- tinuous waterway assumed tangible form in 1837-42, through the initiative of the enterprising men of Milwaukee. But, as events proved, they planned beyond the means available to practically develop the enterprise known as the Milwaukee & Rock River Canal. The Territorial Legislature, then sitting at Burlington, passed an act incor- porating the Milwaukee & Rock River Canal Company, in the fall of 1837, and Governor Dodge signed the act on January 5, 1838. The charter, which was accepted by the company, provided for the capitalization of the enterprise rang- ing from $100,000 to $1,000,000. The incorporators were Byron Kilbourn, Solomon Juneau, James H. Rodgers, Samuel Brown, S. D. Cowles and Wil- liam R. Longstreet, the two gentlemen first named being considered the fathers of the Village of Milwaukee. At the first meeting of the company in Febru- ary, 1838, Mr. Kilbourn was elected president of the canal company, and In- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 221 crease A. Lapham (in after years to arise as one of Wisconsin's first scientists) was selected as its engineer. The plan was to run the survey from the head of slack water on the Menonionee River to the Rock River in the region of Lake Koshkonong. The several sections of the canal were projected as follows: Distance to the eastern end of the summit level, 22y 2 miles; lockage, 316 feet; across the summit level, 1 mile; western end of the summit level to Rock River, 27 miles; lockage, 80 feet ; feeder at summit level, y 2 mile. The estimated cost of this main canal was $730,000; to which add cost of branch canal near the crossing of Fox River to the foot of the rapids at Prairie Village (5 miles and lockage of 40 feet i. amounting to $68,000, which would bring the total cost of the project to $798,000. A land grant amounting to 140,000 acres was passed through Congress and made effective by the President's signature in .June, 1838, and within the coming year the company had sold 43,000 acres, amounting to about one-half the value of the grant, for $108,000. The Territorial Legislature also author- ized the .Milwaukee & Rock River Canal Company to borrow money to further the enterprise. But times were hard and money in the East was '"tight," and .John II. Tweedy, the financial agent of the company, and Byron Kilbourn, representative of the Territorial Government, made little headway in raising funds; so that by the summer of 1839, although various sections of the work had been put under contract, only about $2,000 had been expended in actual construction; a dam had been thrown across Milwaukee River and about a mile of the canal had been dug from the dam to the junction with the Menonio- nee River. The outlook was so discouraging that the remainder of the land grant was withdrawn from the market, and in 1842, when Doty succeeded Dodge as governor of the territory the Legislature rescinded all acts which had been passed relating to the canal project. The repealing act was passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor, being signed by the chief executive in February, 1842. Nothing had been expended on canal contracts since July, 1841, and when the last financial statement w r as made by the company in August, 1842, thirty-nine cents remained in its treasury. Thus the Milwaukee & Rock River Canal went the way of many other large public ambitions in those days of limited means and limitless hopes. The financial complications passed over by the Territory to the State on account of the canal fiasco may form an interesting topic of discussion, but the subject has no legitimate part in this chapter. THE GALENA & CHICAGO UNION RAILROAD In the meantime settlement up the Rock River Valley and throughout the interior regions of Illinois and Wisconsin, far distant from the main water courses, was bringing to the consciousness of the people the supreme impor- tance of founding and improving the land-ways of the country. For years Chicago, Galena and Milwaukee were the chief generators in originating and expanding such enterprises between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. The first railroad project which vitally affected the growth and bright destiny of the Rock River Valley was that designated as the Galena & Chicago 222 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Union. It was chartered on January 16, 1836, to construct a railroad, with either a single or double track, between the termini mentioned in the title. The choice was also given to use either animal or steam power. The survey was immediately begiui in Chicago and completed to the Des Plaines River. Work was suspended in June, 1838, but resumed the following year; piles were driven along the sloughs of Madison Street and stringers placed upon them. A lean purse held by the originators of the railroad caused another pause in building operations. This stoppage was a great disappointment to the people of the Rock River Valley, who hoped to reap the benefits of a thrifty midsection between the booming lead regions of the northwest and the ambitious little city at the southern bend of Lake Michigan, lying low with a great destiny almost within its grasp. Winnebago County was the nucleus of this strong interior senti- ment of Northern Illinois for close cooperation with both Chicago and Galena. The far-seeing ones especially sensed the conviction that there were far more elements of growth centering in Chicago than in Galena; and their disappoint- ment was particularly keen that the enterprise should have collapsed, even temporarily, in the city by the lake. It is to the credit of the earnest and able citizens of Winnebago County and the other sections of the Northern Rock River Valley that they continued for six years to keep before the public the great importance of this fine rail- road connection between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. Their faith- fulness culminated in the enthusiastic meeting held in Rockford on the 28th of November, 1845. Anson S. Miller was chosen chairman and Selden M. Church, secretary. The meeting was addressed by Hon. Martin P. Sweet. It was resolved that those counties interested in the construction of a railroad from Galena to Chicago be recommended to send delegates to a convention to be held in Rockford, January 7, 1846. At that date and place, 319 delegates assembled who represented Cook, DeKalb, McHenry, Rock, Ogle, Boone, Lee, Kane, Stephenson, Winnebago and Jo Daviess. A committee of one from each county was appointed to report resolutions expressive of the views of the convention. Its membership, as fixed by the chair, was as follows: J. Y. Scammon, of Cook County; George T. Kasson, McHenry; Charles S. Hemp- stead, Jo Daviess; M. G. Dana, Ogle; James S. Waterman, DeKalb; William H. Gilman, Boone; James A. Clark, Stephenson; A. B. Wells, Kane; S. M. Church, Winnebago; L. G. Fisher, Wisconsin Territory. RAILROAD SAVED BY COUNTIES OF THE UPPER VALLEY The resolutions, presented by Mr. Scammon and unanimously adopted, ap- pealed to the farmers and business men to subscribe to the stock of the pro- posed railroad, as the value of the property along its route would be doubled and the convenience of the inhabitants immeasurably profited. But before the canvass for subscriptions commenced, the citizens of Chicago agreed to pay $20,000 to the original owners of the charter in stock of the new com- pany, half of that sum at its organization and the remainder, when the road should be completed to Rock River, or as soon as dividends of six per cent, had been earned. Work was begun in 1847 and subscription books were opened THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 223 m Chicago and Galena, as well as in the several settlements through which the road was to pass. The canvass for funds met with some opposition in Chicago, caused by the fear that the building of the road might divert busi- ness from thai city. The rural districts responded more promptly and gen- erously, the men and women of Rockford and adjoining distriets being espe- cially enthusiastic and liberal. William B. Ogden, the president of the com- pany, solicited subscriptions in the interior of the State and so overcame the Chicago opposition that by April, 1848, more than $350,000 worth of stock had been bought along the proposed line of the road. Also largely through Mr. Ogden 's influence the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad was granted the privilege of constructing a temporary track into Chicago to facilitate the haul- ing of the necessary construction material. In June, 1848, the first grading peg was driven at the corner of Kinzie and Ilalsted streets, Chicago, and in October the Pioneer, a clumsy and primitive engine, was shipped from the Mast, unloaded from the docks in Chicago and commenced the work of haul- ing materials for the construction of the road. In December, it left Chicago for the West, hauling, six freight cars extemporized into passenger coaches, and with much eclat bore most of the prominent citizens interested in the rail- road over the four miles of rails already laid. By January, 1850, nearly $165,000 had been expended in the construction of the Galena & Chicago Union line and it had been extended forty miles to Elgin. The track was laid as far west as Belvidere in the spring of 1852, and to Cherry Valley, Winnebago County, in March of the same year. On the 2nd of August. 1852, a real train of cars arrived in East Rockford, its progress accompanied by the ringing of bells and the firing of cannon. It was a notable day for Rockford, and a signal for its large growth, and an event which caused some uneasiness to the municipal aspirations of Chicago and Galena, On September 1, 1853, the Galena & Chicago Union had extended its line to Freeport, 120 miles from Chicago. There it rested on its way to Galena, to which Freeport was to be bound by another railroad tie. FOUNDATION LAID OF THE CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN SYSTEM lii the meantime, various lines were being extended from Milwaukee into the Rock River Valley and over Southern Wisconsin. In 1848, the Legislature of the Badger State chartered the Madison & Beloit Railroad Company, and in 1850 gave it authority to extend to the Wisconsin River, as well as to the Mississippi River at La Crosse. Wisconsin, and to a point near St. Paul, Min- nesota; also from Janesville to Fond du Lac. The name of the corporation was then changed to the Rock River Valley Union Railroad Company. In 1851. as the line from Janesville north did not materialize, the Illinois Legis- lature sought to push the enterprise by chartering the Illinois & Wisconsin Railroad Company, with authority to consolidate with any line or lines in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Legislature responded in 1855 by authorizing the consolidation of the Illinois & Wisconsin Railroad Company with the Rock River Valley Union, and the new organization became the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railroad Company. Put previous to consolidation, the latter had failed and the bondholders foreclosed. William B. Ogden, of Chicago, 224 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY was elected president of the consolidated organization, and under his manage- ment the line reached Janesville in 1855 and Fond du Lac, in 1858. Previous to 1854, the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad had built a branch of its Galena line from Belvidere to Beloit, and in that year leased the Beloit & Madison line, and from 1856 operated it, with the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad, reaching Janesville by way of Hanover Junction, eight miles west of that city. The Green Bay, Milwaukee & Chicago Railroad was chartered in 1851, by the Wisconsin Legislature, to build a line from Milwaukee to the Illinois State boundary, there to connect with a road to be called the Chicago & Milwaukee. Both roads were completed in 1855 and operated together until 1863, when they were consolidated as the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad Company. To prevent its falling into the hands of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Company, the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, which was formed in 1864, leased this line in perpetuity in May, 1866. Since that time it has been operated as its Chicago division. As to the lines of the Northwestern which are bound more closely to the history of the Rock River Valley, note is made of the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company. It was chartered in 1852 and four years later was completed to Beloit, by way of Elkhorn, sixty-eight miles from Racine. In 1859 it was sold to the bondholders and extended to Freeport the same year ; afterward continued to Savanna, Carroll County, on the Mississippi River, and thence to Rock Island. Until it was consolidated with the Northwestern system it was known as the Western Union Railroad. In 1870-74, the Baraboo Air Line was built from Madison to LaCrosse and thence to Winona Junction, Minnesota. It was projected in the interest of the Northwestern system, and gave Madison and Southern Wisconsin another important means of communication with the Northwest. THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL The various steps leading to the formation of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad system are, if possible, more involved than those which led to the establishment of the Northwestern. In 1838-41, the Wisconsin Legis- lature chartered several railroads leading westward from Milwaukee, but for a number of years none of them took practical shape. But the Milwaukee & Waukesha Railroad Company was incorporated in 1847. In April, 1849, after the necessary amount of funds stipulated in the charter had been raised, the name of the line was changed to the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad, as the company had been authorized to extend its tracks to the river in Wis- consin. Milwaukee capitalists and business men loaned the company money and credit, and in 1851 this pioneer Wisconsin railroad had reached Waukesha, twenty miles to the west. In 1852 it had advanced to Milton, Northeastern Rock County; to Stoughton, Dane County, in 1853; to Madison, in 1854, and to Prairie du Chien, on the Mississippi River, in 1856. These extensions from Milwaukee to Prairie du Chien were accomplished only after sore trials and disappointments, and in 1859-60 the company defaulted in its interest pay- ments. The bondholders therefore foreclosed on the property of the Milwaukee THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 225 & .Mississippi concern and effected a new organization called the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien. In 18f<2, the Southern Wisconsin Railroad Company was chartered to build a line from Milton to the Mississippi River. In that year, the Milwaukee & Mississippi line had reached that point, but was not authorized to go to Janes- ville, eight miles to the southwest. The Southern Wisconsin therefore closed the gap, and the Janesville line was afterward purchased by the Milwaukee and Mississippi and extended to Monroe, Green County, thirty-four miles to the west. The people of La Crosse then got busy, and, with the cooperation of Byron Kilbourn and other prominent Milwaukeeans, succeeded in chartering and or- ganizing the La Crosse & Milwaukee line. The first meeting of the company was held in La Crosse in 1852, but no actual work toward construction was accomplished until a consolidation had been effected with the Milwaukee, Fond du Lac & Green Bay Railroad Company in 1854. The latter had been organized, under chartered rights, had the support of Milwaukee moneyed men, and had the evidences of its substantial nature in the shape of depot and grounds in the Cream City. But like many another pioneer railroad it became financially embarrassed and turned to consolidation as its salvation. Therefore the Mil- waukee, Fond du Lac & Green Bay and the La Crosse & Milwaukee companies united their interests, and in 1855 the line of the La Crosse & Milwaukee Rail- road Company reached Horicon, Dodge County, fifty miles northwest of Mil waukee. In the following year, the La Crosse & Milwaukee enterprise received other feeders to its growing body. The Milwaukee & Watertown Railroad Company had been chartered in 1851, and in 1856 had completed its line from Brook- field, fourteen miles west of Milwaukee, to Watertown, by way of Oconomowoc. Watertown was a station on the Milwaukee & Mississippi line, subsequently foreclosed and absorbed by the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien corporation. In 1856, the Milwaukee & Watertown road was consolidated with the La Crosse & Milwaukee. In the spring of that year, Congress offered a land grant to aid in the construction of a railroad from Madison or Columbus, via Portage City, to the St. Croix River or lake; thence to the west end of Lake Superior to Bayfield. Disposal of the grant and the personnel of the incorporators of the proposed company to receive this valuable gift from Congress, caused such a disagreement among the members of the Legislature that a compromise was effected by allowing the grant to go to the newly consolidated concern known as the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad Company. At the legislative session of 1858, the disposal of the St. Croix Land Grant was thoroughly investigated, and it was ascertained that those who voted for the measure had been bribed by the distribution of the land grant bonds — $5,000 to each representative of the Legislature who cast his vote for it, and $10,000 to each senator. Under the circumstances, such bonds became valueless, and the company never at- tempted to realize upon them. But in 1857 the La Crosse company completed its line through Portage to La Crosse, and the Watertown road to Columbus. A few years afterward, the Milwaukee & Horicon line was built from Horicon, through Waupun and Ripon, to Berlin, Green Lake County, which was controlled by the La Crosse 226 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY & Milwaukee Company and afterward became a part of the northern division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul system. The Madison, Fond du Lac & Lake Michigan Railroad Company was char- tered in 1855 to build a line from Madison, via Fond du Lac, to Lake Michigan. In 1857 it bought of the La Crosse company that portion of its road acquired by the consolidation of the Milwaukee & Watertown line and changed its name to the Milwaukee & Western Railroad Company. It owned a line of eighty miles from Brookfield, a few miles west of Milwaukee, to Watertown, with branches from Watertown to Columbus, Columbia County, and to Sun Prairie, Dane County. In 1858-59, the La Crosse & Milwaukee and the Milwaukee & Horicon de- faulted in the payment of interest on their bonded debts, and in 1862-63 both roads were sold to the bondholders, who organized the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. In 1863, the consolidated company purchased the property of the Milwaukee & Western line, thus coming into control of the railroads from Milwaukee to La Crosse, from Horicon to Berlin, and from Brookfield to Watertown, with branches from the last named point to Columbus and Sun Prairie. In 1864, the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company built short lines from Columbus to Portage and from Brookfield to Milwaukee, and in 1869 extended the Sun Prairie branch to Madison. It also purchased several minor lines running out of Ripon. In 1867, it secured control of the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien road and a few years afterward its Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois lines were combined as a system. In 1871-72, the Wisconsin Union Railroad Company built a line from Milwaukee to the State line between Wisconsin and Illinois to connect with a road constructed from Chicago to the Illinois State line; at Chicago, the system "hooked up," in railroad parlance, with the Eastern trunk lines centering in Chicago. The advent of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad into Rockford was at- tended by an exciting conflict of legal authority between that organization and the Chicago & Iowa. On March 30, 1881, arrived the first Milwaukee locomotive ever seen in Rockford. All arrived and no particular place to go. It drew up, however, nearly opposite the Chicago & Iowa depot, and the superintendent of the Pacific division of the Milwaukee & St. Paul, with others, forcibly ejected those in possession of that property under the plea that the Chicago & Iowa road was occupying it illegally, as it had never received a valid lease from its predecessor, the Chicago, Rockford & Northern. The legal battle between the two roads was fierce and resulted in the court upholding the Chicago & Iowa. But these contentions and proceedings did not long delay the advent of the Milwaukee & St. Paid to Rockford. The company had secured control of the old Western Union line to the north, which connected Rockton and Durand, and, building a track from Rockton to Rockford, entered the latter city November 6, 1881. Then a contract was made in Chicago by which the Milwaukee road secured from the Chicago & Iowa a lease of its track from Davis Junction, in Northeastern Ogle County to Rockford. The first train from the south arrived through this station on November 21, 1881. The Chicago & Great Western represents a line which was completed from Chicago to the Mississippi and beyond, in 1886. It passes through the upper THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 227 sections of the Hock River Valley, by way of Byron, Pearl City, Stockton and Galena Junction, in Ogle, Stephenson and Jo Daviess counties. In the meantime had been laid the foundations of two other great railroad systems which furthered the cooperative network of communication extending over every section of the Rock River Valley. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads are in mind. In 1851, the Legislature of Illinois incorporated the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad. It was designed first to connect the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River, crossing the State between the points named, a distance of more than 180 miles. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, or the Chicago & Rock Island, as it was originally known, opened for business at Rock Island on February 22, 1854, and on the 6th of June, of that year, there was a grand excursion of two trains and five steamers, which poured their human freight into the city to celebrate the event with the home people. But a railroad had already been chartered by the Iowa Legislature for the construction of a line from the .Mississippi to the Missouri, across the Hawkeye State, from Davenport to Omaha, Nebraska. The destiny of the Illinois railroad was evident, especially in April, 1856, when a wooden truss bridge was completed across the Mis- sissippi, from Rock Island to Davenport, and the first locomotive, with several empty freight cars, passed over to the western country. The two railroads east and west of the Mississippi were consolidated in 1866 as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, and three years later it completed its connec- tion with the Union Pacific at Omaha. In Illinois, an important connection between sections of the Chicago & Rock Island railway was completed by the Peoria & Bureau Valley Railroad, extending from Peoria to Bureau Junction (about 47 miles) in 1854. It was leased in perpetuity to the trunk road. Thus Rock Island and Henry counties were brought into intimate connection with the East and the West, and the lower Rock River Valley was further accom- modated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. In 1872, the Rock Island & Peoria Railroad, now a part of the Rock Island system which passes through the southwestern townships of Henry County and the northeastern portion of Rock Island County, completed the line from Peoria to Rock Island. The charter which authorized its construction had been secured the year before under the name of the Pacific & Rock Island Railroad. The original section of the Burlington Route was the line constructed by the Chicago & Aurora Railroad Company, which was completed in 1853 and extended from the junction with the old Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, thirty miles west of Chicago, to Aurora. Later, it was extended to Mendota, La Salle County, and in 1855 the Illinois Legislature changed the name of the company to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. In 1854, a line between Mendota and Galesburg, Knox County, eighty miles, was constructed by the Central Military Tract Railroad Company, and in 1855 the Northern Cross Railroad completed its line from Quincy to Galesburg. About the same time the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad was opened from Peoria to the Mississippi River at the latter point in Henderson County, nearly opposite Burlington, Iowa. Both of these lines were acquired by foreclosure and consolidated with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy system in 1860-63, the former constituting Vol. 1—15 228 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the Quincy branch of the main line, and the latter constituting its Burlington connection. Up to 1863, the Burlington Route entered Chicago over the track of the Galena & Chicago Union line, but during that year commenced the construc- tion of an independent line between Aurora and Chicago. It was completed in 1864, the year which also marked the birth of the Chicago & Northwestern system, or at least the laying of its foundation. The development of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy now shifts to the upper country of the Rock River Valley. While engaged in the supervision of the construction of a bridge across Rock River at Oregon, Ogle County, Francis E. Hinckley, a Chicago engineer, learned of the existence of the Ogle and Carroll County Railroad Company, chartered ten years before, but still inert. The original purpose was to build a railroad from Rochelle to Mount Carroll. But Mr. Hinckley improved upon the first plan, and largely through his exertions the Illinois Legislature incorporated the Chicago & Iowa Rail- road Company, in 1869 ; it authorized the building of a line from Rochelle to Savanna, Carroll County, on the Mississippi. Mr. Hinckley was elected its president. Arrangements were then made with the Burlington Company for connecting with its line at Aurora. The construction train of the new road reached Rochelle on December 31, 1870, having run through from Aurora. By April 1, 1871, the road was completed to Oregon. The first train ran into Mount Morris on November 12, 1871, and Forreston, Northwestern Ogle County, on the 28th. There connection was made with the Illinois Central. The Chicago & Iowa Railroad continued to be operated as built for seven- teen years, except that its headquarters were moved to Rochelle. Eventually through a receiver's hands, it passed to the ownership of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad Company. In 1885, a new organization, the Burling- ton & Northern Railroad Company, leased the Chicago & Iowa Railroad and, beginning at Oregon, built the line west to Savanna as originally projected; thence it was extended north to La Crosse, whence, by further leasing, through trains were run from Chicago to St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Chicago & Iowa had also leased a line of road extending from Flagg Center, just west of Rochelle, to Rockford, which had been built by the Chicago, Rockford & North- ern Railroad Company. All these lines were absorbed by the Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy Railroad Company. In 1869, the Sterling branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- road was built from Sterling to Rock Island. Although the original company was chartered and organized in 1854, most of its officials residing in Sterling, the panic of 1857, the Civil war and other disturbances so interfered with its construction that it was not completed until fifteen years after its projec- tion. The organization which built it was known as the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis Railroad Company, afterward reorganized and incorporated as the St. Louis, Rock Island & Chicago Railroad. The line was leased in 1876 by the Burlington road and not long afterward became a part of the system. The most important section of the Illinois Central Railroad system, as it relates to the Rock River Valley, is its Freeport division. It was constructed under a charter granted to the Chicago, Madison & Northern Railroad, and opened for traffic in 1888. It was transferred to the Illinois Central Railroad OrENING OF THE HENNEPIN CANAL AT ROCK FALLS, 1907 Government boat "Rambler" enters the locks inch the courtesy of the Rork Island Arsenal) REMAINS OF FIRST Mississippi RIVER BRIDGE The island pier of the bridge, built by the present Chicago, Rock Island ifc Pacific Railroad Company, from Rock Island to Davenport in 1856. 230 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Company in January of the following year. The line extends from Chicago, by way of Freeport, to Madison, and 140 miles of the road are in Illinois. As originally planned, the main line of the Illinois Central was completed from Cairo to La Salle in 1855 ; in the same year the road was finished from La Salle to Dunleith (now East Dubuque). It is somewhat of a coincidence that busi- ness on the Dixon Air Line and the Illinois Central at Dixon — the former designed by the Chicago railroad builders to tap the upper Rock River Valley east and west, and the latter, north and south — should have commenced within a few days of each other. The first business done in the receipt and shipment of freight at that point over the Dixon Air Line Railroad was about February 10, 1855, five days before that branch of business was commenced at the Illinois Central depot. It may be added that what was then considered a "beautiful" iron bridge was completed by the Illinois Central at Dixon on January 1, 1855, the last rail being laid upon it in the midst of a furious northwest snowstorm which had been raging that day. Rock Island, Moline and Davenport are closely bound by various lines of railroad and other means of communication, and hundreds of their incorpo- rated companies bear the title of Tri-City. Before the railroads and street cars could bind them, of course the bridges across the Mississippi had to be built. Only about two weeks after the first wooden bridge was opened from Rock Island to Davenport and the pioneer Chicago & Rock Island train crossed to the Iowa side of the river, the steamer Effie Afton bound down stream crashed against the central pier, burned to the water's edge and set fire to the bridge. It was repaired, but was never a popular structure with the steamboat men and lumber raftsmen, who considered it rather in the light of a hindrance to navigation than as a help to transportation by land. In 1868, the ice played havoc with the bridge, and work was commenced on a steel bridge to be constructed from the western end of the Island to Davenport. It was built jointly by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company and the War Department, and completed in February, 1872. Originally, the bridge was intended for use in the transaction of government business only, and not as a thoroughfare between the Illinois and Iowa shores; but the more liberal policy prevailed, and soon after the completed work was turned over to the War Department, Captain D. W. Flagler, then the commandant at Rock Island Arsenal, threw the bridge open to the public. This second bridge was 1,550 feet long, five spans and draw, and cost about $1,000,000. It was a double deck, two-track bridge, with footpaths on the sides below, the same as the bridge of today completed in 1895. The old pier of the original bridge on the Illinois side, which had been crumbling away, was finally bound together with cement, and a metal tablet placed upon it, the structure being thus preserved as a memorial of the first bridge to be thrown across the Mississippi. The first bridge connecting the Island with the City of Rock Island was a wooden affair and belonged to the municipality. This the Government bought soon after the construction of the arsenal w r as begun in 1863. In the spring of 1868 the bridge was carried away by the ice and was succeeded, as soon as an appropriation for the purpose could be secured, by one of steel. Moline owned the original bridge connecting the city with the Island. The Govern- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 231 ment bought this in 1868, and replaced it with the present steel bridge in 1873. The railroad and street railway bridges from the Island to the Illinois shore are under the control of, though not built by the Government. The year 1868 is marked as the commencement of the bridge construction era which, with the building of the street railways, has resulted in making three huge and growing cities one great community so far as cooperation of vital interests is concerned. What matters it that two of these municipalities are in Illinois and one in Iowa? The initial move in the founding of a street railway system embracing the three cities was made by Rock Island and Moline in March, also of 1868. The City Council of Rock Island and the Village Board of Moline, on the 24th and 25th of that month, granted certain franchises to the Moline and Rock Island Horse Railway Company by which construction work on a line between these two places should commence within one year. It is of record that this four mile line of crescent-shaped rails was being operated by a lone horse and a human companion within two years. In winter, the passengers stamped their feet in the straw to keep them warm and were convinced that their world was progressing. Fare, five cents within either corporate limits, and ten, if the passenger ventured to go beyond. There was no competition until 1885, when the Union Street Railway Company was granted franchises, put on some hardy mules and forced the rate of fare down to five cents. The competition brought a losing business to each company, and in 1888 a Chicago syndicate absorbed and improved the Rock Island and Moline lines, as well as the street railways centering in Davenport. The processes of purchase, consolidation and extension of the lines between the three cities and to their outlying territory are too involved to be mentioned here, but eventuated in the organization of the Tri-City Railway Company in 1895, which was at the foundation of the system which has so closely bound together the progres- sive municipalities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. Before the railroads got the upper hand of all other proposed means of communication and transportation in the Rock River Valley, the navigation of the parent stream, and travel by plank road, held the attention of the people of Northern Illinois for a number of years. At an early day, the Mississippi River steamboats occasionally made trips up the Rock River. In April, 1838, the steamer Gipsey went up the river as far as Oregon, to deliver a load of St. Louis bacon consigned to Mr. Phelps of that place. He would not receive the meat, and the captain turned back and unloaded the bacon at Dixon. At intervals, other boats appeared on its waters, and in the '40s a movement was gaining headway to ask Congress for a grant of unsold lands to be applied to the improvement of the river. One of the first meetings with that object in view was that held at Rockford, on January 11, 1840, but nothing practical developed from the action of the convention. But the agitation was continued, and on February 28, 1844, the Rockford Forum created some excitement among those still interested in the movement by announcing that the steamboat Lighter from St. Louis would ascend Rock River on the opening of navigation in the spring. Patronage was solicited, and the Forum advised citizens to make exchanges of grain for provisions. The Lighter arrived in Rockford in the latter part of June, and in the following month extended its trip as far north as Janesville, Wisconsin. 232 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY The visit of this steamboat to various points in the upper Rock River Valley renewed the interest in the improvement of its navigable waters, and on July 13, 1844, a meeting was held at the courthouse in Rockford to con- sider the subject. Committees were appointed and resolutions adopted, and on November 22nd of that year a river convention was held at Sterling, in the lower valley. How near the revived project to make the Rock River a navigable interstate waterway succeeded is thus told by Charles A. Church in his "History of Winnebago County": "William Pollock, who had been employed to make a survey, presented a report (to the Sterling convention of 1844). He stated that he had made an examination of Rock River from the mouth of the Pecatonica to Sterling, a distance of one hundred miles, and estimated that the total cost of removing all obstructions between these points at $4,366.75. This was an insignificant sum and was probably far below what the actual cost would have been. The General Government had done noth- ing in response to the petition sent in 1840, and the assistance of the State Legislature was invoked. On February 25, 1845, an act was approved for the improvement of Rock River. Duncan Ferguson, of Winnebago, John Dixon, of Lee, Spooner Ruggles and William W. Fuller, of Ogle, and Theodore Winn, of Whiteside, and their successors, were made a body politic and corporate under the name of the Board of Commissioners for the improvement of the navigation of Rock River. For the purpose of creating a fund for making these improvements, it was provided that a tax should be levied for the year 1845, of seven and one-half mills on every dollar's worth of assessable per- sonal property in Winnebago, Ogle and Lee counties. "In October, 1845, operations were actually begun at Rockford, under the direction of Alonzo Hall. A cofferdam about fifty feet wide was built through the rapids. A wheel at the lower end, propelled by the current, baled out the water. A steamboat channel was excavated in the autumn and winter and the rock piled outside the dam. The improvement ruined the ford, and was absolutely useless for navigation, as the rapids at the mouth of the river in ordinary stages of water would not float a steamer. Similar attempts at improvements were made in the other counties during the year. The money which remained in hand after these expenditures was to be refunded pro rata, as provided by law, to the counties from which it had been collected." The next proposal of those who championed the improvement of the Rock River smacked of audacity. On January 1-2, 1846, a ship canal convention was held in Rockford. The delegates representing Northern Illinois and South- ern Wisconsin adopted a memorial to Congress praying for the construction of a ship canal connecting the Great Lakes with the navigable waters of the Rock River. But the bold project was dropped, revived nearly twenty years later and finally, with the permanent coming of the railroads, died a natural death. This seemed an especially bold proposition for the people of the upper Rock River Valley to make, as the Illinois and Michigan Canal was a tangible enter- prise at that time, much money had been expended upon it and practical progress made. When the canal was opened for navigation in April, 1848, the outlay on that public work had exceeded $6,000,000; a large sum for those small days. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 233 Very soon after the Illinois and Michigan Canal commenced to draw the products of the rich Illinois Valley into the elevators and commission houses til" Chicago, a State-wide movement commenced in the building of plank roads. Not only the Illinois Valley, but the valleys of the Fox and Rock rivers awoke to the importance of providing comparatively easy routes of transportation and travel afforded by these new wooden ways. Finally the demand became so insistent and widespread that the Illinois Legislature, in February, 1849, passed a general law for the construction of plank roads. Soon Chicago was the hub of a gigantic wheel, the spokes of which were hundreds of plank roads radiating in every direction except into Lake Michigan. They became not only feeders by which the farmers were easily drawing their crops to market, but pleasure drives and forerunners of the great trunk lines of cement which accommodate the autos of today. In the Rock River Valley, Freeport, Rockford and other points in the upper district, were especially active in the extension of plank roads in every direction. As stated by a thoughtful writer on the subject of the Illinois plank roads : "The period considered is from 1848, the date of their first inception, until the railroad relegated them to a secondary factor. In their first function, the plank roads were the main through routes from the back country to Chicago. Later, railroads usurped this through traffic and plank road stock went below par. From this time the function of plank roads was not to furnish through transportation routes, but to serve as branch lines to the railroads and the canal. # # # "The use of the plank roads in this secondary phase may best be illustrated by the consideration of those running into Freeport. This town, with rail- road connections to Chicago once established, began the building of plank roads out into the surrounding country. One was built by the way of Cedar- ville and Oneco to Monroe, in Green County, Wisconsin. Other routes were to Rock Run and North Grove, and still another to the mills on Yellow Creek. These roads connected the territory within a radius of thirty miles of Free- port with a cash market. This territory, too, like that immediately adjacent to Chicago, was enhanced in value." Wisconsin did not lag behind Illinois in the plank road fever; Milwaukee being the hub of the Badger State, Beloit, Janesville and Madison were soon in smooth communication with the Cream City, and the rich agricultural dis- tricts of Southern Wisconsin poured their riches into Milwaukee. For the information of those whose memory runneth not back to the times of the resounding plank roads of Wisconsin or Illinois, the following is re- produced from the files of an old Niles Register and will" apply to the typical wooden way of the Northwest: "The roads are constructed with either a single or a double track. The single track is eight feet wide with plank, and as much more without it, upon which wagons may turn out. The whole (six- teen feet) is graded at the rate of about six hundred feet to the mile, or one foot in twelve. The road being first covered with clay spread evenly over it, sills are laid down at the sides, and the ends of the planks are made to rest upon these, and at the same time also upon the clay of the intervening road. The ends of the planks are not pinned or fastened in any way whatever, care only being taken that they shall not lie in a straight line upon the sills, but 234 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY irregularly, so as to give a better hold to wagons coming from the clay on the plank roads. There is also a good ditch at each side of the road so as to drain it well." When the first plank roads were being built out of Chicago and Milwaukee and from a few points in the Rock River Valley, Frink & Walker's line of stages comprised the only extensive transportation system in Illinois. Its route from Rock Island was up the eastern shores of the Mississippi to Albany, Whiteside County, thence east to Dixon and Chicago, the headquarters of the ' line ; from Chicago, in a southwesterly direction to Bloomington, and thence in the same general direction to St. Louis. As John Deere, the plow man used to say, "If you were going to St. Louis, you must go by way of Michilli- mackinac. " The stage departed from Rock Island via Moline, each morning, returning each night when the condition of the roads was in fairly good order ; when bad, very uncertain. Time to Chicago, on good roads, about thirty hours ; to St. Louis, forty to forty-eight. It has become evident that the building of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the plank roads of the State were more for the benefit of Chicago than of the Rock River Valley. But many years afterward an enterprise was con- ceived and executed by which the Great Lakes were connected through the lower Rock River Valley with the Mississippi. The link which brought these mighty waters together was the Illinois and Mississippi Canal, generally known as the Hennepin Canal. The old Illinois and Michigan Canal had its western terminus at La Salle, the head of navigation on the Illinois River, which took a swing far to the south before it joined the Mississippi. It was to construct a direct waterway to the Mississippi from the point where the Illinois makes its first decided bend toward the south that the Illinois and Mississippi Canal was projected and assumed tangible form more than fifty years ago. As formally opened in 1907, it had a length of seventy-five miles from its eastern terminus, a short distance above the town of Hennepin, Putnam County, to its outlet into the Mississippi at Milan, Rock Island County, near the mouth of the Rock River. The feeder of the Hennepin Canal starts just east of Rock Falls, White- side County, and runs almost south, joining the main channel in Bureau County, a distance of more than twenty-nine miles. It is claimed that the originators of the plan to build the Hennepin cut-off were Major James M. Allan, of Geneseo, Henry County, and L. D. Whiting and John H. Bryant, of Bureau County. A canal convention was held in Sawyer's Hall, Geneseo, followed by meetings at Dixon, Sterling and other interested towns. The scheme was finally presented both at Springfield and Washington and a preliminary survey of the route was made as early as 1871. But such innovations move slowly, especially when they have to depend on Congress for funds to further them. Thomas J. Henderson, representative in the lower house of that body, resided in Princeton, Bureau County, designated as the eastern terminus of the canal, and naturally took a lively interest in the project. Largely through his able efforts, Congress made its first appropriation of $500,- 000 for the construction of the canal, and another half a million dollars was appropriated in 1892. Excavation was begun at Milan, in July, 1892, when Captain L. L. Wheeler, civil engineer in charge of the work, turned the first sod with a spade which THE HOCK RIVER VALLEY 235 was afterward deposited in the museum of the Historical Society at Daven- port. Congress made another appropriation to further the work in 1894, and m the following year citizens of Rock Island, Davenport, Moline and Milan joined in a monster celebration in honor of the dedication of the canal. Then tame the important consideration of an adequate feeder from Rock River, in order to maintain a suitable stage of water in the canal proper. Dixon and Sterling both put in a claim for the terminus of the feeder, but were informed that the War Department would be guided in its decision by the length of the route and economy of construction. The necessary funds were subscribed by the citizens of Sterling and Rock Falls. The survey, which was soon made, showed that the route from Rock Falls was not only eleven miles shorter than from Dixon, but that numerous expensive items could be avoided by adopting the former. Rock Falls therefore secured the contract in 1896, and two years later Congress appropriated more than $2,300,000 to push the work both on the feeder and the canal proper. As the undertaking approached completion in 1907, preparations began months ahead to celebrate the event. Milan, the western terminus, inaugurated the gala days on October 21, 1907, but the grand celebration was held at Rock Falls, on the 24th, when the water from Rock River was turned into the feeder and poured southward to maintain the navigable waters of the Hennepin Canal. Sterling, Rock Falls, Dixon and the country for many miles around, poured their good citizens toward the center of attraction, and governors and con- gressmen, government engineers and those prominent in waterway projects, as well as leading officials of railroads and commercial and industrial organ- izations, lent their presence to make the occasion lively and impressive. Parades and pageants, both by land and water, eloquent orators from Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, and an enthusiastic outpouring of people from the Illinois and Rock River valleys, testified to the satisfaction experienced in the successful culmination of ceaseless and w 7 ell-directed efforts toward a great undertaking. No personality attracted more affectionate admiration than that of General Thomas J. Henderson, the venerable ex-congressman, then nearing the end of his long and faithful life. Said a spectator of the canal celebration at Rock Falls: "When General Thomas J. Henderson arose, still vigorous at eighty- two, voice little impaired by time, he was easily the most impressive and his- toric figure of the day. He reviewed his long struggle in the House for the Hennepin project, and maintained that the time had come when canals were imperative improvements, and that the Government owed their construction and support to the people." Doubtless both the Illinois and Michigan and the Illinois and Mississippi canals have played their good part in the development of the Illinois and Rock River valleys, but waterways have, for all-around purposes, been replaced by the ways of iron, just as the plank roads have disappeared in favor of the all-pervading thoroughfares of cement. In this connection, the story of the growth of the great systems of railroad has been told in their special connec- tion with the Rock River Valley. Of late years other systems of transporta- tion and communication have been introduced to benefit the restless, enter- prising and time-saving people of Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. The past, decade covers the period of greatest progress in the construction 236 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of paved roads throughout the middle West. It corresponds to the era of plank roads following substantially the year 1848. But plank roads were too ephemeral and loosely constructed to last and, although they answered a good temporary purpose and helped the interior districts and towns before the rail- roads were fairly planted, and while the status of the waterways was unsettled, they did little to permanently develop the country. The rapidly expanding systems of hard paved roads are of immeasurable value, in close touch with the great routes of railroads and interurban travel. Illinois, especially, has taken the lead of all the States of the Union in the construction of high-type, durable, hard-surfaced roads. During 1922, the State broke the world's record for the amount of paved roads completed. In that year, 722 miles of such thoroughfares were finished, either directly by the State, or under the immediate jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works and Buildings. On August 1, 1923, when the records for the biennial Blue Book were closed, 500 miles of paved roads had already been completed. At that time, there had been finished 2,100 miles of the State bond issue sys- tem. This class of roads has been financed by means of Federal aid appro- priations, surplus automobile fees and proceeds from the $60,000,000 bond issue which was voted by the people of Illinois in November, 1918. In this con- nection, it is important to note that not a bond has been sold nor a cent of interest paid until the money was needed for actual construction. A bill for another bond issue of $100,000,000 was signed by the Governor in June, 1923, and approved by the people at the general election of 1924. Before this second issue was ratified by the voters of the State, Frank T. Sheets, State superin- tendent of highways, said: "The wisdom of road bonds has been shown by the $60,000,000 bond issue. Had this proposition not been passed, Illinois would still be floundering in the mud, with no hope for the future and no definite plan of procedure. The proposed $100,000,000 bond issue will set up a definite system of highways, it will ensure their early completion, and it will ensure a definite and continuous constructive policy in the use of the automobile license fees. These roads, as outlined in this law, will carry 95 per cent of the traffic of the State, and 95 per cent of the people will be within five miles of this system." For the information of automobilists who are not already posted, it may be added that under the act providing for the $100,000,000 issue to expand the highway system of the State, it is stipulated that, unless engineering prob- lems make it clearly impracticable, contracts shall first be awarded for the completion of routes 1 to 46, inclusive, provided for in the $60,000,000 bond issue act, and after that, routes 47 to 185, inclusive, outlined in the new act shall be paved. A comparison of the official construction map issued by the State Division of Highways in January, 1921, with that published in August, 1923, is a tell- ing exhibit. It indicates, as in the olden days of the loosely built plank roads, the construction of numerous trunk systems of permanent highways from Chi- cago westward down the Illinois Valley, and farther north, to the Mississippi River. In 1921, the map shows the Lincoln Highway as passing from Chicago, through Du Page, Kane and De Kalb, into Lee and Whiteside, by way of Dixon, Sterling and Morrison, Avith a section of the Midland Trail, farther north, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 237 built from Belvidere, Boone County, to Rockford, Winnebago. In 1923, the Midland Trail had been built from Chicago, through Cook County, North- eastern Kane and Southwestern McIIenry, Boone, Winnebago and Stephenson counties, by way of Belvidere, Rockford and Freeport. Jt was afterward ex- tended to the .Mississippi, through Jo Daviess, via Galena and East Dubuque. What is known as the Southwest Trail from Chicago had also been built, in L923, from Peru to Rock Island, through Bureau, Henry and Rock Island counties, substantially along the line of the Hennepin Canal. Subsequently, the great north and south highway, known as the Meridian Highway, was projected from La Salle, in the Illinois Valley, into Wisconsin, by way of the Bock River Valley, through Rochelle, Rockford and Rockton. It followed the Third Principal Meridian, substantially parallel with the Illinois Central Rail- road, to La Salle. At this point, where the railroad swerves to the northwest, the Meridian Highway continues its course due north and a short distance easl of the longitudinal parallel which marks its general route. Thus the means of transportation and communication enjoyed by the Rock River Valley are enhanced by three trunk lines of hard-surfaced, finely built roads, one passing through it from north to south, and three other lines from east to west. The Midland Trail is the northernmost of the east and west routes; the Lincoln Highway passes through the central comities of the valley, and the Southwest Trail is routed through the lower valley. Wisconsin also has a remarkably elastic and progressive system of high- ways, aided by the National government, the State and the counties. Their improvement is closely cooperative. The county systems of prospective State highways were partly selected by the counties operating under the county aid laws of 1907 and partly under the State aid law of 1911, which required the counties that had not selected their systems to make such choice. At first these systems were limited to fifteen per cent of the road mileage of the county, and required to begin at the corporate limits of the county seats and other market towns and railroad stations and include the main-traveled roads leading into each town. Changes and additions may be made by resolution of the county board, or by petition of one hundred freeholders. In either case, the change must be approved by the State Highway Commission. Improvements with State aid are limited to roads in this system and, after having been so improved, the roads must be maintained by the county. The county may also adopt other roads as State highways provided they have been improved with stone or gravel and are in good repair. The total mileage of roads included in the county systems is estimated to be about 22,000 miles. The State Trunk Highway System was originally laid out in 1917 to con- nect all county seats and cities with a population of 5,000 or more. The layout was made jointly by the State Highway Commission and a special committee of the Legislature appointed by the governor. Hearings were held at the seat of every county in the State preliminary to the layout. The system was in- creased to 7,500 miles in 1919 and 10,000 miles in 1923. The layout com- mittee of the latter year, besides selecting additions to the State Trunk System, laid out the Federal Aid Highway System, to which improvements with Fed- eral aid are confined. Through the 7 per cent limitation in the Federal act, this system in Wisconsin is limited to 5,496 miles. 238 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Substantially, the 10,000 miles of the most important roads on the county systems are also State trunk highways, and as it is a requirement of law that the Federal Aid highways shall be portions of the State Trunk Highway Sys- tem, it follows that nearly 5,500 miles of the leading State Trunk highways are also Federal Aid highways. There is nothing in the law which forbids a Federal Aid highway or a State Trunk highway from being improved by the county, or by the local unit, if either of them so desire. A prospective State highway is eligible to im- provement by the county, either with aid from the county or State. If it happens to be a State Trunk highway as well, it is in addition required to be maintained by the county and eligible to receive the regular allotment for the maintenance of the State Trunk Highway System; and if it happens to be a portion of the State Trunk Highway System which is also a Federal Aid highway, it is in addition eligible to improvement with Federal aid. Many of the counties have selected what is known as County Trunk high- ways. This has been done under the broad, general power of the county to construct or improve any road or bridge within its limits. The total mileage of this class of highways is about 10,000. One of the provisions of the State Trunk Highway law of 1917 required the State Trunk Highway System to be distinctly marked with some standard design placed on convenient objects along the routes. The design must be uniform on all parts of the trunk system except that numbers shall occur therein corresponding with the numbers given the various routes, which num- bers shall coincide with those placed on the official map or maps issued by the commission. No similar design is permitted for marking any other routes in Wisconsin. Thus was inaugurated in Wisconsin, during 1918, the system of marking and signing which has been adopted in some of its details by many states of the Union and spread to some of the foreign countries. At the time of the adoption of this system various other methods of marking were in use in other parts of the United States, but none of them was considered satisfactory, as they failed to indicate a certain route to a specific destination. In addition to the number marking, there are guide signs indicating distance and direction of places along the route; warning signs indicating dangerous curves, steep hills, railroad crossings and the like. More recently, signs have been placed giving the names and population of cities and villages, as well as the names of lakes, streams and other landmarks, so that automobiling is becoming not only a pleasure but a continuous instruction. In Wisconsin, the actual number of miles of highways maintained is 7,500. The State Highway Commission divides the State into nine divisions for pur- poses of supervision, of which Madison is the headquarters of No. 1, State aid construction since 1912, the year of its inception, to January 1, 1924, amounted to $68,500,000, and the Federal Government expended $23,870,00J on the highways of the State from 1917, the first year of Federal aid, to the same date. Today, Wisconsin has a State Trunk Highway System of 10,000 miles, of which more than 7,000 miles are improved with surfacing and all of which are marked, signed and maintained by the counties under the supervision of THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 239 the State. An additional system of 10,000 miles is maintained along similar lines by the counties. The State Trunk Highway System is continuous over the State and the county systems are coordinated in practically all instances. Trips of one hundred miles and return are common. Three hundred mile trips over highways in a single day are not unusual, and it is reported that one venturesome spirit drove from Superior to the Illinois line — a distance of 492 miles, including detours — between sun-up and sun-down. The Rock River Valley of Southeastern Wisconsin is specially favored with fine trunks of the State and National highways. They branch westward from the great National Parks Highway and the Yellowstone Trail, following the shore of Lake Michigan, from Milwaukee to Kenosha, and thickly net that section of the State. They cross the valley in every direction and follow it longitudinally into Illinois to the Mississippi. The trails of the Indians and the trappers were never so numerous as the finished highways of today. The building of smooth and durable hard roads in Illinois and Wisconsin has brought about the establishment of numerous automobile lines connecting towns, cities and rural districts, and even adding to the facilities previously afforded by the interurban electric lines. These two avenues of travel and close communication are real domestic institutions, and the cities, villages, towns and countrysides from Dane and Dodge counties on the north to Henry and Rock Island counties, on the south, are the more prosperous, satisfied and friend- ly, because of their activities and good management. In fact, this chapter goes to show, as a whole, that people are prosperous, contented and happy, in so far as they have free latitude for their activities, can periodically change their surroundings, and enjoy healthful rest and recrea- tion; in other words, are provided with adequate means of transportation and communication — a hackneyed phrase, but vital with meaning. DAM AND POWKR HOUSE, DIXON CHAPTER X THE RICHES OP THE SOIL THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY, A HORN OF PLENTY — DEVELOPMENTAL AGENCIES WISCON- SIN'S ENCOURAGEMENT OF STATE FAIRS AGRICULTURAL WEALTH OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY GREAT CROPS OF CORN, OATS AND FODDER THE LIVE STOCK OF THE ROCK RrVER VALLEY SOUTHERN WISCONSIN AS THE RICHEST DAIRY COUN- TRY IN THE WORLD HISTORY OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRIES RECLAMATION OF ILLINOIS OVERFLOWED LANDS — THE INLET SWAMP PROJECT ATTEMPT TO RE- STORE HORICON MARSH TO THE WAYS OF NATURE. The Rock River Valley is a teeming horn of plenty throughout its entire length and breadth, from the succulent pastures and great dairy herds of Southern Wisconsin, along the rich fields of corn and other cereals and past the fat beef cattle and sturdy horses of Northwestern Illinois, to the outpouring of its great waters into the mightier floods of the Mississippi. It ramifies a picture land based on the substantial riches which have given life and power to two of the greatest states in the Union, and has always been a vital factor in the development of the basic riches of the land ; how great and how vital will be told through the medium of facts and figures, sponsored by the National Government itself. DEVELOPMENTAL AGENCIES The economic and industrial development of the natural riches of the Rock River Valley is the result not only of individual enterprise, intelligence and hardihood, but of organized propaganda and measures devised and pushed through the coordinated efforts of County, State and General Government. As in all the progressive states, the Illinois and Wisconsin Departments of Agriculture have always been the all-pervading forces which have advanced the interests of the farmer, the live stock man, the dairyman, the horticul- turist, and all others who draw from the soil and pass over its products in their many forms to those engaged in other fields of endeavor. As early as 1839, the Illinois Legislature passed an act for the incorpora- tion of agricultural societies, and one of the first to be organized under its provisions was the Winnebago County Agricultural Society, which was formed in April, 1841. The State Agricultural Society was organized in 1853, and in 1872 it became the Illinois State Agricultural Department. No one or- ganization has done more to encourage practical education among the farmers 240 OLD TREMONT HOUSE, WATERTOWX Where Wisconsin state Dairymen 's Association Was Organized 242 THE EOCK RIVER VALLEY and assist in developing- the agricultural resources of the State than the Farmers' Institute. It was created by an act approved June 24, 1895, and its member- ship consists of three delegates from each county in the State elected annually by the Farmers' Institute in such county. Its affairs are managed by a Board of Directors consisting of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the pro- fessor of agriculture in the University of Illinois and the presidents of the State Board of Agriculture, Dairymen's Association and Horticultural Society, ex-officio, with one member from each congressional district chosen by the dele- gates from the district at the annual meeting of the organization. At the annual meetings of the State Institute the topics for discussion include the cultivation of crops, the care and breeding of domestic animals, dairy hus- bandry, horticulture, farm drainage, improvement of highways and general farm management. The farmers' institutes of the various counties, cooperating with the State organization, as well as the granges, are strong, active and educa- tional forces throughout the Rock River Valley. The County Farm Improve- ment associations collaborate with the extension work of the National Depart- ment of Agriculture, the State Agricultural College and experiment stations for the diffusion of improved agricultural methods and practice. The Winne- bago County Association, formed in 1913, is illustrative of the most advanced work among the farmers of the Valley. It was originally organized by leading farmers of the county, with the support of the Rockford Chamber of Com- merce, that body financing the initial steps. An idea of the scope of work and instruction covered by these organiza- tions may be given by condensing the announced activities of the Winnebago County Farm Improvement Association. They have been devoted to soil testing and surveys, to determine the needs and treatment required ; to combating hog cholera, which has become much less prevalent; to encourage the pulveriza- tion and application of local lime rock to correct acidity of the soil and aid the growing of clover and alfalfa; the building of silos; to the practice of treating oats for smut and testing corn for seed; to better conditions in farm leases; to organize breeders of live stock and dairymen for the encouragement of their industries; encouragement of community betterment; to suggest pro- visions for the more equitable handling of farm credits, both in the purchase of land and live stock, and improved equipment for operating the farms. The foregoing are but a few of the main features included in the working pro- gramme of the Farm Improvement associations, but are enough to indicate that the agricultural communities of the Rock River Valley are much indebted to them for their practical, economical and industrial advancement. The work accomplished by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture has made the state famous. It was reorganized and consolidated in 1915, the leg- islative act of that year bringing into one organization all the activities pre- viously exercised by the commissioner of agriculture and all other officials and agencies whose functions were directed toward the promotion of agriculture. The department was at first organized into seven boards and two divisions have since been added. The live stock division leads the country in accredited herds and pure bred stallions. The department has hog cholera under safe control; it has eradicated scale for fruit growers, and harmful weeds have been almost THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 243 driven from its soil. In fact, the war against insect and plant diseases has been ceaseless and effective. Wisconsin's i:\couragement of state fairs Wisconsin has taken a commanding lead in its generous aid to state and county fairs. Its State Agricultural Society, which, as in Illinois, was the father of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, was organized in March, 1851, and the first State Fair was held in Janesville, during October of that year. County fairs had been held in Kenosha and Walworth counties during the previous year. In 1850-55, county fairs were also held in Jefferson County, at Fort Atkinson. The pioneer State Fair held at Janesville in 1851 was operated on six acres of ground, devoid of buildings, but inclosed by a high board fence. The chief feature of the fair was a ploughing match, won on the second day by J. M. Hay, of Janesville, who plowed three-quarters of an acre in twenty-six minutes. The proceedings covered two days, with an at- tendance of 13,000. The entries numbered 461; receipts, $570; premiums, $140; other expenses, $371.82; leaving a balance of $58.18. For thirty years, the Wisconsin State Fair was held at Janesville, Madison and Watcrtown, all in the Rock River Valley, the Civil war only interfering with its regular sessions. Since 1886, it has been held at Milwaukee ; the re- ceipts of the 1922 fair amounted to $177,000. During the latter year, the Dane County fair at Madison realized over $39,000; the Dodge County fair at Beaver Dam, $40,000; the Jefferson County fair, at Watertown, $16,000; and the Roek County fairs, at Janesville and Evansville, $55,000 and $16,000, respectively. The state and county fairs in Wisconsin are especially attractive and pro- motional, and its agriculturists have the same educational advantage and prac- tical assistance as their brothers of Illinois, in the operations of institutes, granges and the agricultural extension work of the State University, projected from the National Department of Agriculture. The agencies enumerated should feel proud that they have been so instru- mental in placing Illinois, Wisconsin and their included cornucopia of riches, the Rock River Valley, in the front rank of the agricultural commonwealths of the world. AGRICULTURAL WEALTH OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY The Federal Census of 1920 is very complete in the presentation of facts and figures relating to the status of agricultural matters in Illinois and Wis- consin. For purposes of comparison it is instructive to learn the value of farm property in the two states, with the sevei'al classifications adopted by the Bureau of the Census. The comparative table follows: State. Value of Property. Land. Buildings. Implements. Live Stock. Illinois ..$6,666,767,235 $5,250,294,752 $747,698,814 $222,619,605 $446,154,064 Wisconsin 2,677,282,997 1,618,913,059 568,968,914 167,088,909 322,312,115 The exhibit in these items of the twelve counties embraced in the Rock River Valley of this work: Vol. 1—16 244 THE KOCK RIVER VALLEY Value Counties. of Property. Land. Buildings. Implements. Live Stock. Winnebago ...$61,500,000 $43,460,000 $10,196,000 $2,338,000 $5,504,000 Stephenson ... 71,676,000 48,021,000 13,014,000 3,421,000 7,219,000 Boone 39,618,000 28,229,000 3,335,000 1,581,000 3,493,000 Ogle 101,206,000 76,545,000 12,954,000 3,626,000 8,080,000 Lee 114,197,000 89,988,000 13,190,000 3,570,000 7,447,000 Whiteside .... 95,736,000 72,039,000 12,018,000 3,395,000 8,281,000 Henry 127,092,000 96,623,000 15,325,000 4,362,000 10,782,000 Rock Island.. 54,245,000 39,038,000 8,544,000 1,939,000 4,779,000 Rock, Wis. . . . 77,563,000 51,156,000 8,961,000 3,612,000 8,478,000 Dane, Wis. . . . 128,789,000 83,042,000 24,573,000 6,826,000 14,316,000 Dodge, Wis. . . 102,375,000 63,626,000 20,879,000 6,067,000 11,801,000 Jefferson, Wis. 55,675,000 31,227,000 13,042,000 3,526,000 7,879,000 In other words, the value of all property devoted to agricultural interests, including that of live stock itself, in the states of Illinois and Wisconsin, ap- proximates $9,400,000,000, and of this grand total the twelve counties of the Rock River Valley contributed $1,000,000,000. The Valley is a prosperous live stock region, and, with its well watered courses raises large crops of hay and forage, making it an unexcelled country for dairying. Dane, Dodge and Jefferson counties are banner producers of dairy products and are large factors in the development of those industries which have made Wisconsin the leader in this field in the United States. The showing by counties is as follows: GREAT CROPS OF CORN, OATS AND FODDER Another showing of the agricultural wealth of the Rock River Valley is made by the Blue Books of Illinois and Wisconsin. The chief crops of the seven Illinois counties in the Rock River Valley were enumerated as corn, winter and spring wheat, oats, rye, barley, white and sweet potatoes, and tame and wild hay. The total value of these crops by counties was as follows: Counties. Value of Crops. Henry $7,757,253 Lee 8,032,753 Ogle 6,668,740 Rock Island 2,518,572 Stephenson 4,603,348 Whiteside 5,631,430 Winnebago 3,764,939 Corn, oats and hay are the chief of the Rock River Valley crops, and their acreage and production in the Illinois counties for the year 1922 was as follows : Counties. Corn. Acres Prod. Oats. Acres Prod. Hay. Acres Prod. Henry 166,000 6,972,000 77,000 2,849,000 68,700 130,000 tons Lee 175,000 Ogle 131,000 Rock Island.. 52,000 Stephenson .. 89,000 Whiteside ....123,500 Winnebago . . . 79,500 8,225,000 95,400 3,434,400 53,000 79,500 tons 5,240,000 106,000 3,848,400 60,300 90,450 tons 2,080,000 21,500 628,000 29,400 44,100 tons 3,204,000 64,700 2,199,800 61,900 92,850 toDS 5,001,700 65,500 2,096,000 44,500 66,750 tons 2,782,500 50,500 1,515,000 37,500 60,000 tons THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 245 Of the cereals, the two great crops in the Rock River Valley are corn and oats, with wheal ami barley in the second class and rye trailing far behind. The hay and forage crop, in its connection with the great dairy industries, is of untold value, aside from the dollars winch it represents as a separate agri- cultural item. Prom this viewpoint alone, its value is placed by the census enumerators at nearly $37,500,000. The exhibit of the Rock River Valley, as a producer of cereals, especially of corn and oats, and a raiser of hay and fodder, is illustrated in the following table: Hay. Counties. Val. of Cereals. Corn (bu.) Oats (bu.) & Fodder. Winnebago $ 8,231,000 2,086,000 1,333,000 $2,317,000 Stephenson 10,139,000 2,994,000 2,062,000 2,583,000 Boone 5,516,000 1,135,000 789,000 1,805,000 Ogle 13,585,000 4,298,000 3,016,000 2,705,000 Lee 14,099,000 5,412,000 2,554,000 2,043,000 Whiteside 13,519,000 4,796,000 1,869,000 2,330,000 Henry 15,746,000 6,587,000 2,449,000 2,504,000 Rock Island 6,738,000 2,520,000 1,268,000 Rock, Wis 12,458,000 1,803,000 1,428,000 3,697,000 I )ane. Wis 20,978,000 2,826,000 2,893,000 6,852,000 Dodge, Wis 14,331,000 1,388,000 3,183,000 5,706,000 Jefferson, Wis 3,390,000 893,000 1,656,000 3,703,000 As would be expected, the prominence of the counties of the Rock River Valley in the number and value of their dairy cattle closely corresponds to that of their hay and fodder crop. The Wisconsin counties of Dane, Dodge, Jeffer- son and Rock take the lead in the order named. Whiteside, Lee and Henry, in the lower Valley, are the leading producers of wheat, while Rock, Dane and Dodge, the Wisconsin counties of the upper Valley again step to the agricultural front in the raising of barley. THE LIVE STOCK OF THE BOCK RIVER VALLEY By counties, the riches of the Valley, computed in live stock, present the following exhibit: Counties. No. Horses. Winnebago 12,100 Stephenson 14, So:; Boone 7,973 Ogle 19,205 Lee 18,959 Whiteside 19,213 I bury 22,155 Rock Island 10,954 Hock. Wis 17,537 Dane, Wis 27.711 Dodge, Wis 20,107 Jefferson, Wis. ...12,217 Xo. Beef No. Dairy Value. Cattle. Value. Cattle. Value. $1 ,038,000 14,665 $ 902,000 26,166 .$1,968,000 1,265,000 15.045 928,000 38,094 2,1)54,000 660,944 27,104 2,043,000 23,301 1,758,677 1,723,000 39,656 2,362,000 23,898 1,772,000 1,793,000 29,145 1,963,000 21,493 1,659,000 1 .582,000 25,455 1,731,000 35,993 2,497,000 2,193,000 55,637 3.:.!)::, 000 14,750 1,025,000 1,009,000 15,756 927,000 15,354 1,097,000 1 .547,000 7,846 5::9,000 57,352 4.585,000 -'.494,000 9,144 565,000 108,667 8,434,000 1,901,000 2,318 160,000 93,367 8,317,000 1,096,000 558 41,306 65,057 6,028,000 246 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Southern Wisconsin, of which the four counties last named in the foregoing table embrace a very important agricultural section, is one of the richest dairy regions in the world, and, as a whole, the state leads the nation in the value and quantities of such products. It is No. 1 of the States in the production of milk, yielding ten per cent of the total. Wisconsin makes two-thirds of the cheese manufactured in the United States and leads all the states by a large margin in the production of the American, Swiss, brick and Muenster grades ; it stands second in its output of Limburger. Altogether, three-fourths of the American cheese produced in the Union comes from the Badger State. It is second in butter production, eleven per cent, of all the creamery butter turned out in the United States being credited to Wisconsin. Its standing is even more pronounced as a manufacturer of condensary products. The State has no rival in this class, its products amounting to fully one- fourth of the total credited to the United States. The dairy section of Northwestern Illinois is largely covered by Stephenson, Whiteside, Winnebago and Ogle counties. Two of the most magnificent model farms of the Rock River Valley are in Ogle County — the Sinissippi Farm, near Oregon, owned and operated by former Governor Frank 0. Lowden, and the Rock River Farms, at Byron, of which the owner is Mrs. Medill McCormick, widow of the late senator. SOUTHERN WISCONSIN, RICHEST DAIRY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD As Wisconsin is the premier dairy State in the Union, and its counties in the Rock River Valley are unrivaled in the establishment and development of the great dairy interests of the United States, the writer is pleased to draw liberally from the paper prepared by J. Q. Emery, dairy and food commissioner of that State, and published in the Blue Book of 1925. "The beginnings of dairying in Wisconsin were individualistic and empirical," he writes. "The time was the pioneer stage until about 1872. The place was the pioneer farms. The personalities were the pioneer farm woman and her husband. The cow was the ordinary native. The dairy barn was the straw stack. The feed was straw and marsh hay in winter and the wild grasses in summer. The dairy house, creamery, cheese factory, condensary or receiving station, was the pioneer farm kitchen, well and cellar. The butter maker or cheese maker was the pioneer farmer's wife. Her helpers were her children. Her dairy implements were tin milk pans, tin skimmers, the old-fashioned dasher churn, wooden bowl and ladle, for butter making, and a like meager primitive outfit for cheese making. The market was the grocery store, and that often far away and glutted. There butter was swapped for groceries, paying twenty-five cents a pound for sugar and similar prices for other groceries. The transportation was by foot and Avalker's line, or perchance by ox-team. The cows freshened in March or April, ran at large during the summer, and were dried off in November and Decem- ber. There was no winter dairying. Indeed, during this primitive period, dairying was merely incidental to the great paramount industry of growing wheat." VIEWS OF THE McCORMICK ROCK RIVER FARMS Distant view (upper). Main Buildings (lower). 248 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY HISTORY OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRIES The first cheese factory in the State probably was that of Chester Hazen, at Ladoga, Fond du Lac County, 1864. The first cheese factory established in Southwestern Wisconsin was that of L. G. Thomas, near Lone Rock, Richland County, in 1865. By 1870, there were probably 100 cheese factories scattered through sixteen different counties of the State. The development of the cream- eries did not begin until later. The ravages of the chinch bug in the wheat fields of Wisconsin threw the farmers into a panic and brought to their atten- tion the advantages of dairying. In 1872, therefore, under the leadership of W. D. Hoard, of Fort Atkinson, the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association was organized at Watertown. It proved to be the most potent single force in the State for the advancement of the dairy industry. W. D. Hoard, Stephen Favill, W. S. Green, Chester Hazen, H. F. Dousman, A. D. Favill and H. C. Drake, the organizers of the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association, and others of like strong personalities, were among the pioneer workers and promoters of the dairy industry in Wisconsin. In the words of Mr. Emery: "In the feeble beginnings of the Wisconsin dairy industry, the adaptability of Wisconsin's climate, soils, grasses, water and dairymen to the production of high class dairy products was yet to be determined. Our surplus dairy products had to compete in the Eastern and European markets with the products of New York and Canada, which had already established a reputation for high quality in the markets of the world. Speaking of conditions as they were at the time, Hiram Smith once said that the manufacturers of Wisconsin cheese had to leave it to be sold at the country store, one or two at a place, and replenish as sold; and mail carriers and ped- dlers disposed of all they could. At one time it was feared that the lightning rod man and the insurance agent would have to be called in to dispose of the accumulating stock. "To overcome this prejudice, to solve the market problem of their day, these pioneers sought, first to produce cheese and butter honestly worthy of the best markets of the world. Having done this, they conceived and executed the plan of making exhibits of Wisconsin cheese and butter at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, in 1876, where Wisconsin received a larger percentage of the medals than was awarded any other State or country. With these vic- tories and others gained at the great International Dairy Show in New York, Wisconsin gained recognition in home and English markets as a dairy State. Like victories followed at the Chicago World's Fair and at the New Orleans Cotton Centennial. They were leading the way from the making of cheese and butter exclusively on the farms and were erecting cheese factories and creameries where they manufactured the choicest of dairy products, attested by their having gained the highest awards in the world's competitive contests." Then came better transportation facilities, the refrigerator car and the Babcock device for measuring the butter-fat in milk and cream, with the organ- ization of various institutions for the scientific and economic development of the dairy industries. The Wisconsin College of Agriculture and the Agricul- tural Experiment Station were children of the State Dairymen's Association and its founders, and in 3889 the long-continued efforts of that organization THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 249 culminated in the promulgation of the pure food law by the Legislature and the creation of a dairy and food commissioner to enforce its provisions. The great personal force behind all such legislation was Governor W. U. Hoard, who died in November, 1918. In 1893, the Wisconsin Cheese Makers' Associa- tion was divided from the original "Wisconsin Dairymen's Association and became the largest organization of the kind in the world. In 1900, the South- cm Wisconsin Cheese Makers' and Dairymen's Association was organized with the primary aim of promoting the cheese industry of the foreign type, specified by the old-time varieties known as Swiss, brick and Limburger. The success of this movement has given Southern Wisconsin, as a cheese country, the name of the Switzerland of America. The supremacy of Wisconsin — especially Southern Wisconsin — as a dairy land has established a wonderful source of income in the sale of dairy cattle. In 1923, 56,000 head of such cattle were purchased in Wisconsin by dairymen from other states. Foreign shipments also went to Japan, New Zealand, South America and Mexico; yet, in 1924, Wisconsin possessed 2,217,000 dairy cows to "carry on" her dairying, 453,000 in excess of her nearest competitor. For the year 1923, the dairy products of the State were valued at $244,800,- 000, of which the output of the cheese factories was valued at $75,000,000, the creameries at $66,000,000, and of the plants for evaporating and condensing milk and cream at $38,500,000. RECLAMATION OF ILLINOIS OVERFLOWED LANDS The reclamation of overflowed land is one of the greatest public works in which the State of Illinois is engaged. For over half a century it has been a subject of interest to its farmers and economists. After two generations of legislation, judicial decisions and engineering experience, in 1923 the state had organized more than 1,000 drainage, levee and sanitary districts embracing 4,608,880 acres, or 12.8 per cent of the land area of Illinois. The incompleted districts represent 1.7 per cent of the land of the State. Approximately, 1,126,- 000 acres of the overflowed land still lies in the river and creek bottoms. A considerable portion of this land is in timber, as the present condition of the land has not warranted its removal. The State experts estimate that, on an average, crops on these lands are lost more than half the time, and over large areas crops are not harvested more than once in four years. Naturally, the watersheds containing the greatest area of flat lands, like those of the eastern and central portions of the State, rank higher than the rougher ones where the need for drainage has been smaller. The lack of natural drainage in these areas made artificial drainage imperative, if the full produc- tivity of the soil was to be realized, and the fact that they lay in the corn belt enhanced their agricultural value to such an extent as to give a special incentive to drainage work. In the opinion of the Geological Survey the reclamation of the overflowed lands of the State would add some $50,000,000 annually to the wealth of the commonwealth. Many legal difficulties have stood in the way of drainage reclamation work in this State. Up to 1870, all drainage ;iets of the Legislature were declared 250 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY unconstitutional because there was no constitutional provision for such legisla- tion and because the common law forbade construction of drains and ditches across lands without the consent of their owners. In 1870 and 1878, the con- stitution was revised by the addition of a drainage provision. Under that amendment, two distinct drainage laws were passed in 1879, one known as the Levee Act and the other as the Farm Drainage Act. Since that year numerous amendments have been made to the acts and appeals have been frequently taken to the Supreme Court, on account of confusion having arisen over these two acts in litigation and decisions of the lower courts. Engineers generally group the drainage districts of the State into units corresponding to the watersheds in which they are located. The natural drain- age basins in Illinois are the Lake Michigan and Mississippi watersheds. The drainage districts in the Rock River Valley are embraced in the Mississippi Watershed. With a few exceptions, all of the levee districts, those protected by river dykes, are located along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Nearly all of the Illinois River districts operate pumping plants and practically all the land within them is producing. The Mississippi River districts are protected by levees, but few of them operate pumping plants. Plans have been made in the last few years to remedy this condition, and it is probable that eventually all will operate pumps and thus fully reclaim their areas. Throughout Illinois, with its 36,000,000 acres, 4,600,000 are covered by organ- ized drainage districts and an area of 614,000 acres is now enjoying this devel- opment in full. The engineers and experts estimate that an area of 1,700,000 acres is in need of drainage, of which the bottom lands cover 1,126,000 acres. ROCK RIVER DRAINAGE The area drained in Illinois by the Rock River and its chief tributaries, the Pecatonica, the Kishwaukee and the Green, is 5,210 square miles, or about 3,300,000 acres. The Pecatonica comes from Southwestern Wisconsin and after an irregular course of fifty miles empties from the west into the Rock River at Rockton, Illinois, while the Kishwaukee is about seventy-five miles in length, and joins the parent stream from the east, having its rise in McHenry County. The longest of the tributaries of the Rock River is Green River, which rises in the Inlet Marsh of Lee County, leaves that county at its southwest corner, and joins the parent stream near Rock Island. It is nearly 120 miles long. In the Illinois Rock River area, the drainage districts which have been organized cover 145,000 acres, and it is estimated that 45 per cent of the cul- tivable lands are yet unreclaimed. No reclamation or drainage districts have been established in the Pecatonica Valley. On the other hand, much work has been accomplished in the Kishwaukee region, an area of more than 128,000 acres being covered by drainage districts. THE INLET SWAMP PROJECT The most important drainage project undertaken and accomplished in the Rock River Valley of Illinois is that in connection with the reclamation of A MODEL FARM IX THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Frank O. Lowden 's Sinnissippi farm and residence near Oregon 252 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Inlet Swamp, the source of Green River, in the eastern portion of Lee County. The Green is virtually independent of Rock River, as, after rising in Inlet Swamp, it takes a generally southwest course for 120 miles through Lee, Bureau and Henry counties and does not join Rock River until it reaches a point about ten miles southeast of Rock Island. The project to drain Inlet Swamp and reclaim about 30,000 acres in six of the eastern townships of Lee County which is more than forty years old, at length promises realization. The great natural obstacle to be surmounted was the dam of solid rock at Inlet known as the Dewey dam. The dam was removed largely through the persistence of Ira Brewer of Bradford Township and the water lowered over an approximate tract of 30,000 acres. Although the area was redeemed from rank wilds, it was not reclaimed for agricultural purposes, but various plans were suggested to utilize it. A game park and preserve was suggested and an association of Chi- cago, New York and local men formed to carry out the project, but the idea of reclaiming this great tract of overflowed land making it really productive finally gained such headway that it could not be stopped. In August, 1887, through an order issued by the county judge, was created the Inlet Swamp Drainage District, preliminary work having already been accomplished in the laying out of drainage ditches. Court and commissioners have cooperated and the drainage of the old Inlet Swamp has slowly but surely progressed. The expenses of the work have been met by the levying of assessments on the lands to be benefited, and eventually a valuable area in the Rock River Valley will be transformed from swamp into farm lands. ATTEMPT TO RESTORE HORICON MARSH On the other hand, the drainage of an area covering 40,000 acres where the far northeastern waters of the Rock River flow into the marshes of Fond du Lac and Dodge counties has been bitterly opposed for years by lovers of nature and outdoor sports. Among the most prominent of those who are still fighting the utilitarians and land speculators is Louis Radke, of Horicon. In June, 1925, he contributed an article to "Outdoor America," the well known Chicago maga- zine, which stands as the "defender of woods, waters and wild life," and is owned and published by the Izaak Walton League of America. Mr. Radke says : ' ' Horicon Marsh, once the greatest paradise for game and fish in the Northwest, was known in the early days as Winnebago Marsh. The Winnebago Indians made it their hunting and fishing grounds long before the paleface ever pulled a trigger or cast a line within its borders. It spread its 40,000 or more acres of land over an area four to six miles wide and eighteen miles long in Southeastern Wisconsin. This vast region is known as the headwaters of Rock River, the two branches of which make their junction in the marsh. "Rock River was meandered by the United States Government Survey as far north as the north line of Township 11 North, Range 16 East, and by the statutes of Wisconsin declared navigable as far north as Township 14 North, Range 15 East, the latter point being the north boundary line of Dodge County. Tlie local acts of Wisconsin of 1839 provided that Rock River 'is hereby declared to be a public highway and forever free for the passage of boats, barges, canoes, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 253 rafts or oilier crafts capable of navigating said river as high up said Rock River as Township 14, Range 15.' "In 1845, with the approach of civilization, the old pioneers erected a large dam across Rock River at Horicon, causing the overflow of this vast area. Lake Horicon, picturesque and beautiful in the «extreme, with its peninsulas, islands and numberless bays and coves, sprang into existence. Lake Horicon had the distinction of being not only the largest artificial lake in the world, but was known as a haven for the market hunter, commercial fisher and trapper. Ducks and geese abounded. Muskrat and mink throve at the shores. Fish of all kinds were caught and marketed in enormous quantities. In the winter of 1857, fishermen shipped one hundred and forty tons of pickerel and pike to eastern markets. Ice fishing became a popular sport and a profitable busi- ness. This beauty spot and game and fish paradise was destined, however, to delight but a single generation. All too soon promoters planned to destroy the dam at Horicon. Long and vexatious litigation followed. In 1867, the promoters practically won their fight, when the State of Wisconsin for some reason saw fit to sell the lands beneath the waters of Lake Horicon at five cents per acre. A law was passed entitled 'An Act to incorporate the Union Mechan- ics Manufacturing Company.' This act permitted the removal of the dam in 1868. Lake Horicon slowly but surely sagged from its shores into Rock River. Winnebago Marsh, later known as Horicon Marsh, again came into its own. Scores of little lakes remained, abundantly rich in bird and other animal life." Then came a period from 1870 to 1904 when sportsmen not only from every section of* Wisconsin, but from many other states, were attracted to Horicon Marsh, with its unrivaled breeding grounds for wild duck and other fowl. Shooting clubs were formed and the entire area of the marsh was leased by Eastern and Wisconsin sportsmen. In 1904, a petition was filed in the Circuit Court of Dodge County to estab- lish a drainage district including within its scope all the lands within the limits of Horicon Marsh, and an order was entered to organize the Horicon Drainage District. But the State Supreme Court reversed the order and in 1908 declared the action of the Circuit Court unconstitutional on the ground that the Rock River was a navigable stream, "and that no authority of law was delegated to the commissioners to impair it or appropriate it for drainage purposes; and that the drainage district order will have that effect." In the following year an effort was made by prominent business men of Horicon, Watertown, Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin, and Rockford, Illinois, to recon- st ruct the dam at Horicon. The design of the movement was not only to recreate Lake Horicon, but to form a reservoir which might hold back the flood waters that rushed down upon these cities each spring, doing damage in untold thou- sands. The protests of drainage promoters and engineers caused the plan to be finally abandoned, and within the following decade a combination of private land owners and speculators constructed a huge ditch through the center of Horicon Marsh, with lateral ditches, laid bare many bottom lands, destroyed the channel of Rock River and the beautiful and prolific grounds of aquatic game, and left an unproductive waste. During this period of active drainage. the engineers contended that the Hustisford dam, about ten miles south of Horicon, was the key to the successful drainage of Horicon Marsh. The dam 254 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY had created beautiful Lake Sinnissippi, the back waters of which reach as far north as the city limits of Horicon; for the State Supreme Court laid down its mandate that "Hustisford Dam must not be disturbed." This is all that is left of the old glories of Horicon Marsh, about which formerly clustered Horicon, Beaver Dam, Mayville, Fond du Lac, Waupun, Burnett, Juneau and Hustisford. For fifteen years the marsh has been in a semi-drained state, no benefits to farmers or land owners have accrued, and a strong public sentiment has been directed to its restoration - as a picturesque and productive lake — a beautiful and teeming reservoir for the headwaters of the Rock River. i*$Jy 3 iwMvmmm 'A . i HORICON MARSH IN A STATE OF NATURE (1908) CHAPTER XI INDUSTRIES AND BANKS THE INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH OF THE ROCK RIVER COUNTIES AND CITIES FIRST EXTEN- SIVE WATER POWER DEVELOPMENT AT ROCKFORD THE MANUFACTORIES OF ROCK- FORD AND DIXON — ROCK ISLAND AND ITS INDUSTRIAL PLANTS — THE FAMOUS PLOW CITY THE FIRST WOOLEN, PAPER AND COTTON MILLS ESTABLISHED IN SOUTH- ERN WISCONSIN INDUSTRIES OF BELVIDERE, STERLING AND ROCK FALLS — KE- WANEE, FREEPORT AND ROCHELLE — STATUS OF THE BANKS IN ILLINOIS AND WIS- CONSIN — THE PIONEER INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY PRESENT CON- DITION OF NATIONAL AND STATE BANKS IN DODGE, ROCK, DANE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES, WISCONSIN, AND WINNEBAGO, STEPHENSON, BOONE, OGLE, LEE, WHITE- SIDE, HENRY, AND ROCK ISLAND COUNTIES, ILLINOIS. In the earlier period of a country's development which promises the great- est prosperity the agricultural industries come foremost ; at a later period, man- ufactures based on the products of the soil arise, and, with more pronounced and intricate growth, the raw material upon which the industries feed, is drawn from many distant parts. At first, the domestic waterways are the industrial parents, operating the mills and bringing the raw material to them. Then come the land highways of travel and transportation, with the railroads the greatest of them all, and to thousands of manufactories the raw grist is brought from the most distant parts of the land. This status of industrial conditions has come to be considered a measure of modern prosperity and well describes a strong feature of the life of the Rock River Valley as a rapidly developing section of the great empire of the Middle West. The most prolific industrial life of this prosperous and wonderful region is found in the upper and the lower reaches of the valley, and centers in "Winne- bago and Rock Island counties, Illinois. The minor manufacturing centers of Southern Wisconsin are still substantially based on farming and live stock products, but when the traveler reaches Rockford the industries there in evi- dence are divided and subdivided in metropolitan confusion. With the appli- cation of hydraulics to the generation of electricity and other mechanical power, the waterways of the country are reasserting their former prominence, and from the sources of the Rock River in Wisconsin to its outpouring into the Mis- sissippi that stream has become the creator of vast energy in the development of industrial enterprises. The fine water powers at Janesville, Beloit, Rockford, Dixon, Sterling, Rock Falls, Kewanee and Rock Island, first marked them as the favored sites for future cities and afterward gave them their decided impetus along their forward ways. Before entering into the narrative descriptive of the strong features in the industrial development of the Rock River Valley of Wisconsin and Illinois, it 255 256 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY is well to keep in mind the comparative importance of its leading counties and cities, judged from this viewpoint alone. According to the Federal Census of 1920, their status is as follows : No. of Value Counties Wage Earners Wages Paid of Product Winnebago 15,825 $19,216,000 $81,087,000 Rock Island 13,625 18,343,000 86,735,000 . Rock (Wis.) 8,000 9,200,000 42,900,000 Henry 4,300 5,600,000 19,100,000 Stephenson 3,200 3,400,000 19,580,000 Whiteside 2,600 2,899,000 17,900,000 Lee 1,550 1,500,000 4,500,000 The strength of the industrial classes in the seven leading manufacturing centers of the Valley is: Rockford, 14,900; Moline, 5,400; Beloit, 4,600; Ke- wanee, 3,900; Rock Island, 3,200; Freeport, 3,100. In Winnebago County, there are few industries outside of Rockford, which represents a greater variety of manufactures than any other center in the valley. In Rock Island city the out- standing industrial plant is the great Government Arsenal, while Moline is stamped as a leading manufacturing city by the extensive plow works which have made her world-famous. Kewanee absorbs the bulk of the industrials accredited to Henry County by the employees necessary to operate the great boiler works at that place. The other cities and counties mentioned have developed numerous manufacturing plants, some of commanding position, but none which loomed so far above the others as to completely overshadow them. The first extensive and systematic development of the water power of the Rock River was initiated at Rockford in 1843. In that year the Rockford Hydraulic and Manufacturing Company was incorporated to dam the river there and overcome the rapids. The work was completed in the autumn of 1845, and that year marked the transition of Rockford, from 'a hamlet to a manufac- turing city. Various portions of the old dam were washed out and repaired, sawmills and other manufactories were erected. Two or three little foundries and machine shops were built by the Watsons and Orlando Clark, but finally in June, 1851, the entire dam went out. Soon afterward, the Rockford Water Power Company was organized. Two years afterward, the first great impetus was given to the manufacturing interests of Rockford by the advent of John H. Manny, largely through the influence of Orlando Clark, and the establish- ment of his extensive plant for the manufacture of reapers and mowers. After the death of Mr. Manny, the industry was expanded under several ownerships and managements and finally emerged as the great agricultural implement plant of the Emerson-Brantingham Company. Others followed in the same line. Iron foundries of a general and special nature, planing and flouring mills, and brass, leather and wood works, planted themselves along the new water power and made Rockford hum. Then in 1866, John Nelson and William W. Burson, founded the knitting industry which has made the city one of the leading hosiery centers in the United States. Since the Civil war the furniture industry has also been developed in Rockford, and it now stands in the same class with Chicago and Grand Rapids. Particular mention of the many manufactories 00 rr o s » > — a § X c_ H f - - - — - — ►3 W > 2 X ?r - X - < Pi — a r 1 o o - ?r M o X = I-" /• ■< -1 td -^ a ?r 258 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY which have brought this primal industrial center of the Rock River Valley to a position of national importance is made in the history of Winnebago County. Dixon, farther down the river, was also coming into notice for its manu- factures. A dam, for the development of power, had been thrown across the river, and as early as August, 1849, the commissioners of Lee County were hearing petitions from land owners to award them damages on account of over- flows. In the early '50s, Colonel John Dement began the manufacture of plows at Dixon and Major 0. J. Downing commenced to make flax bagging. Several flouring mills were built, but were finally discontinued. The Grand Detour Plow Works, which had passed from the hands of John Deere when he started the factory at Moline in 1848, had been burned, passed through various changes in management, and in 1869 were moved to Dixon, chiefly through the influence and capital of Col. H. T. Noble. Afterward and for many years the Grand Detour Plow Company conducted a large manufactory at Dixon. Of late years, perhaps the leading industries which have been planted at Dixon are the Borden Milk Factory, founded in 1888 and engaged in the manufacture of Anglo-Swiss condensed milk, and the large cement plant established in 1907. The development of the low-head hydro-electric plant since the summer of 1924, will bring the city of Dixon even more to the front as a manufacturing center and the source of power supply to other places. Rock Island draws for its industrial power from a variety of sources. It is supplied by what is known as the Peoples Power Company. The steam gen- erating station is in the extreme eastern portion of the city; the two hydraulic plants are located on the Mississippi River at Moline and on the Rock River at Milan. Since 1867, when the company relinquished all its rights in the Rock Island rapids to the government, the city has also received the free use of one- fourth the power derived from the development of the south channel of the Mississippi after the needs of the arsenal have been supplied. The industries of Rock Island are very diversified. A mere mention of their classes must suffice at this place. They embrace farm lighting plants, agricultural imple- ments, sash and doors, millwork of all kinds, men's clothing, cabinet work, pipe organs, fabricated steel, candies, electrical supplies, oil cloth and linoleums, castings, hardware, stoves, registers and heating plants and footwear of all kinds. The city of Moline is situated on the Illinois shore of the Mississippi River, and opposite the upper part of the government island, between which and Moline flows the south channel of the Mississippi. Since its development, it has been called the Sylvan Waters, or the Water Power Pool, and supplies Moline, the Island of Rock Island and a portion of the water power required by the city of Rock Island. The factories of Moline line the Water Power pool. Some of them, especially the plow works, are among the largest of their kind in the world. The rapids of the Mississippi which begin twenty miles above Moline are the sources of the unrivaled water power which has made the city. Its founders realized the advantages of the site from the first and would have no other name than Moline, or Milltown. The coming of John Deere from Grand Detour in 1848 fixed the industrial type of the place, despite the founding of many other plants than plow factories. In the upper part of the Rock River Valley in Wisconsin, several repre- JOHN DEEEE Founder of Deere Plow Works, Molinc Vol. 1—17 260 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY sentative and early industries were established. In 1846, the old Big Mill was built at Janesville and became known all up and down the valley for the excel- lence of its flour. "Woolen mills were also established at Janesville and Water- town, and in the middle '70s the first cotton mill in Wisconsin commenced oper- ations at Janesville. The first paper mill in the Badger State was founded at Beloit in 1856, and capitalists from that city also established the Northwestern Paper Mills at Rockton, at which were made pails and barrels and straw board. Dams had been thrown across Rock River and power developed to a greater or less degree at all these points, as well as at Horicon, and a number of iron foundries and plants for the manufacture of agricultural implements were founded. Before the Civil war, the seeder factories had been established at Horicon, which subsequently developed into the Van Brunt and Deere plants. Beaver Dam also had both woolen mills and agricultural works in operation in the early '50s, and all had their breweries which flourished for many years. For a number of years after the Civil war, the raising of tobacco in Southern Wisconsin was struggling for a profitable foothold. By 1869-70, the cigar- leaf variety was being cultivated with especial success in the Janesville district, and its curing for the market had become a large and still growing industry. The center of the industry was stabilized at Edgerton, not far from the city of Janesville, and it is still a town of tobacco warehouses. Although Boone County, Illinois, is more agricultural than industrial, the saw and grist mills erected at Belvidere on the Kishwaukee River in 1836 were among the pioneer manufactories in the Rock River Valley. Of late years a number of large industrial plants have been located at Belvidere. The National Sewing Machine Company and the Keene-Belvidere Canning Company are representative. Sterling and Rock Falls are the industrial cities of Whiteside County, lying on either side of Rock River, which is here tapped by the Illinois & Mississippi (Hennepin) Canal. Two power dams have been thrown across the Rock River, and the Sterling River front has had a remarkable development. A massive concrete bridge connects the two municipalities, so that they are substantially one industrial community. The first dam was built as early as 1854, and decisive development commenced on the south side of the river in 1867, when A. P. Smith purchased of the Sterling Hydraulic Company one-half its avail- able power and erected a mitten factory on the forty acres which he had platted in that section. In 1871 came the railroad and not long thereafter the Ke3'stone Company was organized, the predecessor of the International Harvester Com- pany. Followed plants for the manufacture of barbed wire, straw products and other articles in demand. In the meantime the rival towns on the other side of the river had settled their differences and consolidated as Sterling. Several substantial factories were established, as well as two strong national banks. Sterling also received much notice as the home of the first maker of the gasoline engine in the West, if not in the country. John Charter had solved the problem of operating an engine by vaporized gasoline ; the Charter Gas Engine Company and its plant resulted, and are still among the leading industries of Sterling. There are about sixty industrial plants which contribute to the prosperity of Sterling and Rock Falls, including pattern works, wire mills ; store fixture, interior finish, furniture and \ - <-'. - - ' - t ■ — 7 - lis mm WM^M FIRST LOCATION OF L. C. HYDE & BRITTAN, BELOIT The First Bank in Southern Wisconsin, Founded by L. C. Hyde on May 1, 1854 ORIGINAL BANK BUILDING, PEOPLE'S TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK Established 1857, Moline 262 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY carpet and rugs plants ; bakeries and ice cream and flavoring extracts manu- factories, printing establishments, concerns for the manufacture of builders hardware and everything else required or desired by American communities, local and without. Kewanee, Henry County, was laid out as a railroad town several years before the Civil war and its leading industrial plant is the Kewanee Boiler Works, an establishment known even beyond the limits of the United States. The city also numbers among its manufactories, plants which turn out pumps and heating apparatus generally, agricultural implements and specialties of all kinds. In the '50s, Freeport promised to become quite a manufacturing center for agricultural implements, but other cities of the Valley eventually occupied the field more completely. In 1851, the Williams Threshing Machine Company; in 1856, the Mannys, father and son, and in 1857, the De Armit Plow Company, commenced the manufacture of various agricultural implements. A planing mill was erected in 1853, a steam sawmill in 1856 and a planing mill in 1857. Naturally, the larger enterprises gravitated to those centers which were develop- ing the best water powers, and most of the electricity now used for domestic and industrial purposes is energized from Dixon. Freeport has few extensive manufactories and most of those which are in operation supply the demands of a limited territory. Outside of the shops of the Illinois Central Railroad, the largest industry is that operated by the Stover Manufacturing and Engine Company, which turns out engines, windmills, grinders and hardware special- ties. Other smaller concerns manufacture windmills, pumps and tanks and drilling machines. Another makes a specialty of bird houses, flower pots and rustic conveniences for lawn and garden. Scarcely a domestic want of the household can be named which cannot be supplied by local manufactories. Rochelle, a progressive little city in the southeastern part of Ogle Count}' on Kyte River, a branch of the Rock, is in the midst of a rich agricultural and live stock country, and has become quite a manufacturing point. Its first im- portant industry was established in 1873 and consisted of the manufacture of Vassar Swiss underwear, and in 1903 the canning of vegetables was introduced. Rochelle is now recognized as the largest pea packing town in the United States, the great industry being conducted by what is known as the Rochelle Can- neries, Inc. Other vegetables are canned, and it is estimated that the two plants thus engaged obtain their raw material from 6,000 acres, or about eight square miles of land. One of the oldest and most extensive industries at Rochelle is conducted by the George D. Whitcomb Company, founded in 1878 to manu- facture and market coal mining machinery, and thirty years afterward com- mencing to specialize in the manufacture of gasoline locomotives. The Caron Spinning Company manufactures worsted knitting yarns, which are sent to Chicago, Milwaukee and other parts of the United States, as well as to Canada. Among the other industries which have given Rochelle standing as a manufac- turing center of the Rock River Valley is that conducted by the Kennedy Cereal Mills, founded in 1882, and devoted to the production of rolled oats and feed. In Ogle County, at Mount Morris, are also a creameiy and concrete plant and the large printing and publishing house conducted by the Kable Brothers, while Oregon is the headquarters of several concerns which manufacture player pianos. Charles H. Deere J. M. Gould J. S. Gilmorc MOLIXK'S EARLY FINANCIERS 264 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY In the foregoing pages an attempt has been made to touch upon only the main features of the development of manufactures in the Rock River Valley, the details being reserved for the histories of the separate counties. The same plan will be followed in sketching the progress of banking in the section under consideration. As a background in the treatment of this subject is the financial status of the banks in Illinois and Wisconsin, in January, 1925. All of them are under State supervision. Illinois has 501 National and 1,406 State banks, with a total capital of $248,593,500, a surplus of $241,450,050, and deposits of $3,747,- 640,065. There are 157 National banks in Wisconsin and 837 State; capital, $62,224,000; surplus, $45,344,810; deposits, $854,525,020. The total liabilities were as follows: Illinois banks, $4,237,183,615; Wisconsin, $962,093,830. The resources: Illinois banks, $4,205,924,326; Wisconsin, $960,603,423. The pioneer banks of the Rock River Valley now in existence were founded prior to the Civil war. In 1852, two banks were established in Rock Island. They were organized by Cook, Sargent & Parker and Isaac Negus, William L. Lee and Marcus B. Osborn, and were both located on Second Avenue. The latter, known as the Rock Island Bank, was organized under the State banking laws of that period, which were very liberal. It is now known as the State Bank of Rock Island. In 1854, the banking house of Briggs Spafford & Penfield was founded in Rockford, and ten years later its affairs were taken over as the Third National Bank. The first bank in Rockford, however, was opened in 1848 by Thomas D. Robertson and John A. Holland. The Winnebago National Bank, which has since gone out of existence, was erected on the pioneer financial institution in 1865. The bank of L. C. Hyde & Brittan, in Beloit, claims to be the oldest institu- tion of the kind in Southern Wisconsin. Its doors were opened May 1, 1854, and somewhat later in the same year were established what are now known as the Bank of Watertown and the Commercial National and the State banks of Madison. The City National Bank of Dixon was the successor of an institution founded in that city as early as 1855, and the original business of the First National Bank of Janesville, as well as that of the Rock County National and the Jefferson County Bank, was also commenced in the year named. The Peoples Savings Bank and Trust Company of Moline was founded in 1857. Substantially in the order of their geographical location, passing down the Rock River Valley, from Dodge County, Wisconsin, to Rock Island, Illinois, inclusive, the condition of the State and National banks, with the years of their establishment, is given in the following condensed statements, uniformly cov- ering the items capital, surplus and profits and deposits, and omitting all figures under 500 : — DODGE COUNTY Surplus and Capital Profits Deposits State Bank, Astico $ 20,000 $ 10,000 $ 206,000 1920 American National, Beaver Dam 100,000 102,000 1,369,000 1891 ct- _ T a rt- i. a h Sv - — K > ,_, F c — o — W re x •f -: M re < X O W - o re H pr — *i - - H r 00 o p ^ re - o 00 SI 00 <^ — CD > -1 F < - re H H 266 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Surplus and Capital Profits Deposits Farmers State Bank, Beaver Dam $ 10,000 $ 27,730 $ 791,970 1911 Old National Bank, Beaver Dam 80,000 104,930 1,252,000 1864 Citizens State Bank, Beaver Dam ...... 40,000 3,970 212,720 1920 Farmers Bank, Brownsville 15,000 11,000 208,000 1908 State Bank, Burnett 10,000 11,820 182,000 1910 Farmers State Bank, Clyman 10,000 19,000 180,000 1911 State Bank, Fox Lake 40,000 50,000 530,000 1891 First National, Horicon 30,000 13,000 200,000 1918 State Bank, Horicon 50,000 25,000 525,000 1896 State Bank, Hustisford 30,000 13,620 289,760 1902 Commercial State, Iron Ridge 30,000 6,000 300,000 1905 Citizens Bank, Juneau 40,000 34,000 959,000 1891 State Bank, Knowles 15,000 6,000 163,000 1915 State Bank, Lebanon 25,000 9,870 402,620 1914 State Bank, Lomira 25,000 10,000 225,000 1903 First National Bank, Mayville 50,000 13,710 306,000 1914 Ruedebusch Mutual Savings, Mayville... 70,000 52,000 800,000 1892 Farmers Exchange Bank, Neosho 10,000 1,000 234,860 1905 Peoples State Bank, Reeseville 40,000 23,780 323,000 1911 State Bank, Rubicon 10,000 7,000 77,000 1914 State Bank, Theresa 25,000 7,000 304,000 1905 State Bank, Woodland 10,000 5,000 147,000 1914 ROCK COUNTY Savings Bank, Beloit $360,000 $3,662,000 1881 State Bank, Beloit $100,000 157,000 3,405,000 1892 L. C. Hyde & Brittan, Beloit 50,000 22,000 1,188,000 1854 Second National, Beloit 50,000 126,000 1,953,000 1882 Citizens Bank, Clinton 50,000 24,520 542,580 1882 State Bank, Clinton 35,000 10,000 225,000 1912 First National, Edgerton 50,000 17,820 552,660 1903 Tobacco Exchange, Edgerton 50,000 83,000 820,900 1897 Bank of Evansville, Evansville 25,000 17,860 547,540 1870 Farmers and Merchants State Bank, Evansville 25,000 15,950 566,000 1907 State Bank, Footville 20,000 11,000 348,640 1909 Bower City Bank, Janesville 50,000 87,640 750,000 1895 Merchants & Savings, Janesville 300,000 277,510 2,596,000 1875 First National, Janesville 200,000 304,900 2,770,000 1855 Rock County National, Janesville 100,000 114,700 1,136,000 1855 Rock County Savings & Trust Co., Janes- ville 50,000 43,000 597,000 1912 Bank of Milton, Milton 15,000 22,500 219,000 1884 Farmers Bank, Milton Junction 25,000 27,530 525,000 1911 State Bank, Milton Junction 15,000 15,000 107,000 1883 J. F. Robinson Morris Roscnfie'd P. L. Mitchell T. J. Robinson ROCK ISLAND EARLY DAY BANKERS 268 THE KOCK RIVER VALLEY DANE COUNTY Capital State Bank, Belleville $ 30,000 Citizens State, Belleville 20,000 State Bank, Black Earth 25,000 State Bank, Blue Mounds 15,000 Bank of Cambridge, Cambridge 25,000 State Bank, Cottage Grove 25,000 State Bank, Dane 12,000 First National Bank, Deerfield 30,000 Bank of Deerfield, Deerfield 50,000 State Bank, De Forest 50,000 Bank of De Forest, De Forest. 25,000 American Exchange, Madison 75,000 Bank of the Commonwealth, Madison . . . 50,000 Bank of Wisconsin, Madison 500,000 Capital City Bank, Madison 200,000 Central Wis. Trust Co., Madison 300,000 Commercial National, Madison 300,000 First National, Madison 800,000 Randall State Bank, Madison 25,000 Savings, Loan & Trust Co., Madison 250,000 Security State Bank, Madison 50,000 South Side State Bank, Madison 25,000 State Bank, Madison 100,000 Bank of Marshall, Marshall 15,000 Peoples State Bank, Mazomanie 25,000 State Bank, McFarland 15,000 Bank of Middleton, Middleton 25,000 State Bank, Morrisonville 20,000 State Bank, Mount Horeb 50,000 Mount Horeb Bank, Mount Horeb 70,000 Citizens National, Stoughton 50,000 First National, Stoughton 50,000 State Bank, Stoughton 25,000 Bank of Sun Prairie, Sun Prairie 25,000 Farmers & Merchants, Sun Prairie 40,000 State Bank, Waunakee 25,000 Farmers State Bank, Waunakee 15,000 JEFFERSON COUNTY Citizens State, Fort Atkinson $ 25,000 First National, Fort Atkinson 100,000 Savings Bank, Fort Atkinson 40,000 Bank of Helenville, Helenville 20,000 Jefferson County, Jefferson 100,000 Farmers & Merchants, Jefferson 75,000 Surplus and Profits Deposits $ 18,000 $ 352,000 17,000 406,880 11,770 311,680 6,760 108,000 10,000 400,000 8,800 228,000 1,000 215,000 7,000 159,630 17,000 328,000 15,850 374,570 3,000 90,000 40,000 1,063,780 15,770 486,000 212,800 4,430,790 200,930 2,077,000 144,000 2,081,000 65,750 222,840 121,870 8,610,000 7,000 177,860 100,880 1,162,500 23,000 800,000 2,000 105,000 105,000 1,804,750 7,900 266,000 10,000 304,500 17,790 133,000 14,850 442,000 8,780 180,000 24,000 640,960 22,880 611,980 58,000 629,940 140,000 700,000 60,000 450,000 25,000 390,000 17,980 740,810 31,800 300,000 6,000 275,000 $ 20,000 94,000 22,780 14,900 77,000 86,620 $ 240,000 960,940 564,990 232,000 1,313,000 1,253,000 1903 1903 1904 1910 1899 1914 1911 1920 1887 1902 1922 1871 1915 1893 1883 1906 1908 1854 1914 1890 1912 1923 1854 1903 1891 1905 1903 1902 1901 1891 1906 1899 1877 1897 1893 1902 1912 1884 1910 1910 1914 1855 1873 OLD SECOND NATIONAL BANK ROCKFORD'S FIRST BANK, OPENED IX 1848 270 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Capital Mansfield State Bank, Johnson Creek... $ 15,000 Farmers & Merchants State, Waterloo . . . 50,000 State Bank, Waterloo 30,000 Farmers & Citizens, Watertown 50,000 Merchants National, Watertown 200,000 Wisconsin National, Watertown 75,000 Bank of Watertown, Watertown 150,000 Surplus and Profits Deposits $ 18,710 $ 247,590 1901 43,000 783,700 1897 11,000 251,000 1913 50,640 674,000 1912 146,550 1,182,000 1892 95,000 840,000 1865 39,000 1,604,000 1854 The four counties preceding are in the Rock River Valley of Wisconsin; the eight which follow, in Illinois. WINNEBAGO COUNTY State Bank, Cherry Valley . .$ 25,000 Citizens State, Durand 30,000 State Bank, Durand 50,000 Farmers State, Pecatonica 75,000 State Bank, Pecatonica 40,000 Commercial National, Rockf ord 200,000 Forest City Natl., Rockf ord 300,000 Manufacturers Natl., Rockford 400,000 Peoples Bk. & Tr. Co., Rockford 250,000 Rockford Natl. Bank, Rockford 750,000 Rockford Trust Co., Rockford 100,000 Security Natl. Bank, Rockford 200,000 Swedish-American Natl. Bk, Rockford.. 125,000 Third Natl. Bank, Rockford 500,000 State Bank, Seward 40,000 State Bank, Winnebago 25,000 STEPHENSON COUNTY State Bank, Dakota $ 25,000 Farmers Bank, Davis 25,000 First Natl. Bank, Freeport 150,000 Tr. & Savgs. Bk., Freeport 100,000 Guaranty T. & Sav., Freeport 100,000 Knowlton State Bk., Freeport 125,000 Second Natl. Bk., Freeport 150,000 Security Tr. Co., Freeport 100,000 State Bank, Freeport 150,000 Stephenson Co. Bank, Freeport 150,000 German- American State, German Vallej^. 25,000 State Bank, Kent 30,000 Citizens State, Lena 50,000 State Bank, Lena 50,000 State Bank, Orangeville 25,000 $ 33,900 $ 265,570 1910 13,630 184,000 1913 49,000 347,000 1904 58,000 485,000 1908 30,000 390,000 1873 67,790 807,000 1920 300,920 3,215,940 1890 507,000 3,637,810 1888 213,000 2,838,890 1869 329,000 8,153,510 1871 131,510 167,000 1918 73,700 1,171,510 1920 237,600 2,911,000 1910 358,940 4,072,000 1854 5,000 130,000 1921 28,520 306,000 1912 $ 25,590 $ 253,730 1911 27,000 390,000 1895 449,530 2,294,000 1864 21,610 539,820 1911 16,000 240,550 1923 6,000 461,700 1869 102,520 1,084,770 1864 13,000 224,000 1915 417,560 1,864,740 1891 270,000 1,379,000 1876 9,000 102,000 1907 5,810 130,000 1923 32,000 619,000 1880 24,000 417,790 1867 1,000 180,000 1909 THOMAS D. ROBERTSOX One of Etockford's Master Financiers 272 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Surplus and Capital Profits Deposits State Bank, Rock City $ 25,000 $ 34,000 $ 358,000 1911 State Bank, Rock Grove 30,000 9,000 110,000 1920 State Bank, Winslow 25,000 20,000 251,000 1915 BOONE COUNTY Farmers State, Belvidere $ 75,000 $ 86,000 $ 779,530 1908 First National, Belvidere 75,000 40,560 623,000 1885 Peoples Bank, Belvidere 100,000 140,610 1,052,000 1889 Second National, Belvidere 100,000 93,000 685,000 1884 National Bank, Caledonia 25,000 9,000 99,600 1914 Capron Bank, Capron 35,000 25,930 215,660 1881 Poplar Grove Bank, Poplar Grove 25,000 22,520 254,730 1903 OGLE COUNTY Byron State Bk., Byron $ 60,000 $ 6,000 $ 400,000 1921 Chana Banking Co., Chana 25,000 3,570 81,000 1913 Farmers Bank, Creston 30,000 23,000 203,540 1913 Commercial State, Foreston 35,000 35,000 350,000 1913 State Bank, Foreston 75,000 54,000 676,940 1887 State Bank, Holcomb 100,000 18,000 330,000 1892 Farmers Bank, Kings 30,000 19,500 200,000 1887 State Bank, Leaf River 25,000 8,000 268,000 1907 State Bank, Monroe Center 50,000 46,000 383,790 1903 Citizens State, Mt Morris 80,000 45,000 500,000 1893 Ogle County State, Oregon 100,000 26,000 1,107,800 1884 State Savings, Oregon 30,000 35,000 483,680 1907 Peoples L. & Tr. Co., Rochelle 100,000 41,550 812,000 1899 National Bank, Rochelle 50,000 30,000 410,000 1871 Tr. & Savgs. Bk., Rochelle 150,000 89,000 987,000 1881 Stillman Valley Bank, Stillman Valley.. 50,000 30,930 476,000 1882 LEE COUNTY State Bank, Amboy $ 50,000 $ 5,000 $ 275,000 1912 First National, Amboy 100,000 137,000 1,167,000 1868 Farmers State, Ashton 35,000 14,000 210,000 1907 Ashton Bank, Ashton 50,000 128,000 715,000 1869 First National, Compton 25,000 18,900 211,780 1903 City National, Dixon 100,000 214,000 2,201,600 1855 Dixon National, Dixon 100,000 175,000 1,953,850 1871 Dixon Tr. & Savgs. Bk., Dixon 100,000 32,740 443,240 1919 State Bank, Harmon 15,000 660 47,000 1921 First National, Steward 50,000 20,000 140,000 1902 Farmers State, Sublette 50,000 12,500 119,000 1899 H. F. Gehant Bk. Co., West Brooklyn. . . 50,000 20,000 320,000 1897 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 273 WHITESIDE COUNTY Capital First Tr. & Savgs., Albany $ 25,000 State Bank, Albany 25,000 State Bank, Fenton 25,000 Fulton Bank, Fulton , 75,000 W. Co. State Bank, Fulton 50,000 First State Bank, Lyndon 25,000 First Natl., Morrison 100,000 State Bank, Morrison 25,000 Smith Tr. & Savgs., Morrison 100,000 ( 'itizens State, Prophetstown 50,000 Farmers National, Prophetstown 60,000 First National, Rock Falls 50,000 Farmers & Merch., Sterling 100,000 First National, Sterling 200,000 First Tr. & Savgs., Sterling 50,000 state Bank, Sterling 100,000 Sterling National, Sterling 100,000 First National, Tampico 25,000 HENRY COUNTY Farmers State, Alpha $ 30,000 Farmers State, Annawan 25,000 state Bank, Annawan 30,000 Tr. & Savgs., Atkinson 50,000 Farmers State, Atkinson 25,000 Bank of Bishop Hill 20,000 Farmers National, Cambridge 50,000 First National, Cambridge 50,000 Farmers Coop. State, Galva 100,000 First National, Galva 60,000 L. M. Yofum & Co., Galva 100,000 Central Tr. & Savgs., Geneseo 100,000 Farmers National, Geneseo 50,000 First National, Geneseo 200,000 Farmers State, Hooppole 25,000 First National, Kewanee 75,000 State Savings, Kewanee 100,000 Union State Savings, Kewanee 150,000 Savings Bank of Kewanee, Kewanee. . . . 200,000 Opheim State Bank, Opheim 10,000 Farmers State Bank, Orion 30,000 State Bank, Orion 50,000 First Natl. Bank, Woodhull 25,000 State Bank, Woodhull 40,000 Surplus and Profits Deposits $ 29,000 $ 304,000 1902 17,000 211,000 1904 2,500 53,000 1921 60,680 1,023,000 1902 13,000 460,000 1914 1,570 74,760 1914 95,000 464,590 1865 37,000 462,000 1911 200,760 1,221,790 1878 21,650 420,000 1899 30,690 525,000 1902 30,000 765,000 1902 4,000 281,000 1922 153,710 1,698,890 1870 61,670 839,000 1916 30,000 425,000 1906 240,000 1,639,910 1882 16,660 148,000 1908 $ 10,000 $ 143,000 1910 9,970 311,790 1916 2,540 225,770 1898 36,000 496,000 1881 12,000 300,000 1913 10,000 188,000 1921 121,000 905,000 1881 138,000 790,000 1881 60,780 635,990 1911 54,600 915,000 1882 63,000 821,840 1865 98,000 936,650 1907 137,000 820,000 1876 200,000 1,360,000 1864 4,000 100,000 1917 204,720 1,902,880 1871 144,000 690,680 1912 63,540 1,144,920 1882 28,000 1,221,580 1902 52,560 1920 62,000 449,000 1908 64,000 498,000 1890 16,640 137,000 1924 40,000 439,840 1911 274 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ROCK ISLAND COUNTY Capital State Bank, Cordova $ 15,000 State Bank, Hillsdale 25,000 Commercial Savgs., Moline 100,000 Fifth Ave. Tr. & Savgs., Moline 150,000 Mechanics & Merch., Moline 200,000 Trust & Savgs., Moline 300,000 Peoples Sav. Bk. & Tr. Co., Moline 250,000 State Sav. Bk. & Tr. Co., Moline 300,000 State Bank, Port Byron 75,000 Farmers State Bank, Reynolds 25,000 State Bank, Reynolds 40,000 American Tr. & Savgs., Rock Island. . . . 200,000 Central Tr. & Savgs., Rock Island 200,000 First Tr. & Savgs., Rock Island 200,000 Peoples National, Rock Island 100,000 State Bank, Rock Island 200,000 Rock Island Savings Bank, Rock Island. 200,000 State Bank, Taylor Ridge 35,000 Surplus and Profits Deposits $ 5,000 $ 110,000 1916 4,000 112,000 1917 21,700 1,442,690 1912 25,000 435,000 1920 65,000 1,900,000 1910 243,710 4,581,520 1869 625,000 6,811,870 1857 270,000 4,586,570 1869 35,000 - 900,000 1863 18,850 385,590 1903 17,380 467,000 1888 57,000 1,249,000 1912 446,660 5,697,840 1899 65,000 1,223,710 1920 49,000 809,000 1874 220,000 2,469,650 1852 464,760 4,715,510 1890 9,000 227,000 1905 THE OLD MILL, MOEKISON CHAPTER XII BENCH AND BAR OF THE VALLEY THE JUDICIARY OP ILLINOIS MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COURT FROM THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY FLOYD E. THOMPSON, JAMES II. CARTWRIGHT AND THOMAS FORD THE CIRCUIT COURTS AND JUDGES — ALLEN C. FULLER AND CHARLES E. FULLER OF BELVIDERE — THE WISCONSIN JUDICIARY EDWARD V. WHITON, OF JANESVILLE HARLOW S. ORTON AND SILAS U. PINNEY, OF MADISON JOHN B. CASSODAY, ALSO OF JANESVILLE — BIRR W. JONES, OF DANE COUNTY HERMAN L. EKERN, ATTOR- NEY GENERAL, OF MADISON — THE LATE ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE, THE WISCONSIN SENATOR WILLIAM F. VILAS, ALSO A NATIONAL CHARACTER MATTHEW H. CAR- PENTER — JAXLSYILLE AND ROCKFORD, THE HOME TOWNS OF FOUR PIONEER WOM- EN LAWYERS OTHER NOTED FIGURES OF ROCK COUNTY AND THE TWELFTH CIR- CUIT — JUDGE GEORGE GRIMM ON "JUDICIAL CONCILIATION" CIRCUIT JUDGES OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY THOMAS C. BROWNE, BENJAMIN R. SHELDON AND WIL- LIAM BROWN — JOSEPH M. BAILEY, OF FREEPORT, JOHN V. EUSTACE, OF DIXON, JAMES H. CARTWRIGHT, OF OREGON, AND OTHERS SELDEN M. CHURCH, PIONEER AND FIRST COUNTY JUDGE, OF ROCKFORD THE BAR OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY CHRISTOPHER M. BRAZEE, WILLIAM LATHROP, JAMES L. LOOP AND OTLIERS GEN- ERAL STEPHEN A. HURLBUT, WAR ATTORNEY GENERAL, OF BELVIDERE — THE BAR OF OGLE COUNTY — THOMAS FORD AND EDWARD S. LELAND, PIONEER LAWYERS FAMOUS TRIAL AT DIXON OF THE BANDITTI OF THE PRAIRIES — JUDGE THOMAS FORD PRESIDES OVER THE COURT ONE OF THE STRANGE TRIALS OF HISTORY — LEE COUNTY JUDGES AND LAWYERS — EDWARD SOUTIIW1CK AND OTHER PIONEER ATTOR- NEYS — PROMINENCE OF COUNTY IN FURNISHING CIRCUIT JUDGES — SHERWOOD DIXON, THE FOUNDER OF FAMOUS LAW FIRMS — JAMES M 'COY, LONG NESTOR OF WHITESIDE BAR — FRANK E. ANDREWS, FATHER OF THE HENNEPIN CANAL FEEDER HENRY COUNTY BENCH AND BAR GENERAL JOHN II. HOWE — THE NOTED BISHOP HILL MURDER ROCK ISLAND COUNTY — ITS CIRCUIT JUDGES AND LEADING ATTOR- NEYS — J. W'lLSON DRURY AND WILLIAM A. MEESE — THE MURDER OF COLONEL GEORGE DAVENPORT — THREE OF THE OUTLAWS PUBLICLY HUNG FIRST PRIVATE LXECUTION IN ROCK ISLAND COUNTY — OTHER CASES AND CRIMES TRIALS OF ROCK ISLAND VICE GANG. The Rock River Valley has been represented in the personnel of the judiciary and bar of Wisconsin and Illinois by many able and even distinguished men and women. After describing generally the composition of the courts in these states, the remainder of the chapter will be substantially devoted to a list of those from the Valley who have been identified with the various bodies of the judiciary and with the practice of their profession, as w y ell as a mention of some of the cases which have become noted in legal annals. Vol. 1—18 275 276 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE JUDICIARY OF ILLINOIS The judicial department of the Illinois State Government is defined in the constitution of 1870, with the various amendments incorporated with that instru- ment. The Supreme Court consists of seven justices, one from each district and elected for a term of nine years. That body chooses one of its members as chief justice. The counties in the Rock River Valley of Illinois are in three of the Supreme Court districts — Rock Island County, in the Fourth; Henry County, in the Fifth, and Stephenson, Whiteside, Winnebago, Boone, Lee and Ogle, in the Sixth. MEMBERS OP THE SUPREME COURT FROM THE VALLEY Floyd E. Thompson, of Rock Island, chief justice and representing the Fourth District, is a native of Greene County, Illinois, and is but thirty-eight years of age. In 1911, soon after his admission to the bar, he located at East Moline and practiced law in Rock Island County until his election to the State Supreme bench in 1919 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Justice George A. Cooke. He was reelected for the full term in June, 1921, running 60,000 ahead of his party vote. Justice Thompson had served as state's attor- ney of Rock Island County in 1912 and 1919. Justice James H. Cartwright, of the Sixth District, is a veteran and honored judge of the Rock River Valley, and has long claimed Oregon as his home town. He was born in Iowa before it became a State and received his education at Mount Morris Seminary and the University of Michigan. His father was one of the most widely known Baptist missionaries of Iowa and Illinois. Judge Cartwright served in the Civil war and was mustered out of the service with the rank of captain. He was elected judge of the Circuit Court in 1888, re- elected in 1891 and assigned to the Appellate bench of the Second District. In 1895, he was elected judge of the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Joseph M. Bailey, and was reelected in 1897, 1906, 1915 and 1924. In this connection it is well to remember that Thomas Ford was elevated from the Circuit to the Supreme bench in February, 1843, and resigned in August, 1842, to accept the nomination for governor. The Appellate courts, four in number, are provided for the appeal from the Circuit courts of certain cases designated by the General Assembly. Residents in the Rock River Valley who have served on this bench from the Second Dis- trict are as follows : G. W. Pleasants, Rock Island, assigned in 1879 and 1882 ; James H. Cartwright, Oregon, 1891, 1894 ; John D. Crabtree, Dixon, 1897, 1900. Assignments from the Third District : G. W. Pleasants, Rock Island, 1885, 1888, 1891, 1894 ; W. H. Gest, Rock Island, 1904 ; Frank D. Ramsay, Morrison, 1905 ; Arthur H. Frost, Rockford, 1911; Emery C. Graves, Geneseo, 1915, 1918; Oscar E. Heard, Freeport, 1921. From the Fourth District: Hiram Bigelow, 1897, 1900. THE CIRCUIT COURTS AND JUDGES The Circuit courts have original jurisdiction of all causes in law and equity, the General Assembly dividing the State into circuits for that purpose and spe- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 277 cial provision being made lor Cook County. Outside of Cook County, there are now seventeen circuits. Under the constitution of 1818, nine judieial circuits were created. In 1835 and is:}!), while a resident of Oregon, Thomas Ford was c missioned to serve both in the Sixth and Ninth Circuits. Under the consti- tution of 1848, the State was divided at different periods, as its population in- creased, into thirty circuits. George W. Pleasants, of Rock Island, was commis- sioned as judge of the Sixth Circuit, in 1867, and Allen C. Fuller, of Belvidere, of the Thirteenth Circuit, in 1861. Judge Fuller was one of the most prominent public men in the State. He was a Connecticut man, educated in the law and admitted to practice in New York, and in 1846 located at Belvidere, Boone County. About a year after he was elected circuit judge, Governor Yates appointed him adjutant general and he resigned from the bench to enter upon his duties. He continued to hold that important office until January, 1865, and during the following decade served ably in both houses of the General Assembly. Judge Fuller earned leadershi] • as one of the prominent republicans of Illinois and was twice sent to Washing- ton by his party as presidential elector. He died in December, 1901. It i; believed that, with the exception of Governor Yates, no name is mentioned so frequently and laudably in the state military affairs of the Civil war as that of General Fuller. The War Governor himself thus refers to his services: "1 acknowledge myself deeply indebted to General Fuller in the management of the militar>- affairs of the State. He has been a most able, faithful and energetic officer, and is entitled to the gratitude of the State." In 1876, under the constitution of 1870, the State was divided into twenty- six circuits. William Brown, of Rockford, was elected from the First; William W. Heaton, of Dixon, from the Third, and G. W. Pleasants, of Rock Island, from the Fifth. Then, in 1877, the number was decreased to thirteen, the elec- tion to provide judges for the circuits having occurred in June, 1873. The Thir- teenth was the one which especially concerned the Rock River Valley. W. W. Heaton, of Dixon, who had been elected June 16, 1873, died March 1, 1878, and was succeeded by John V. Eustace, who was elected for the six-year term in June, 1879. He was reelected in 1885, but died in 1888 and was succeeded by James II. Cartwright, of Oregon. Judge Cartwright was elected in June, 1891, and J. G. Carver, of Rockford, finished his ( Cartwright 's) uncompleted term caused by resignation and died in June, 1897. William Brown of Rockford was elected for three successive terms in 1873, 1879 and 1885. Joseph M. Bailey, of Freeport, was a leading member of the bench and bar of Illinois for nearly forty years. He received a university education and was admitted to the bar of New York the year before he located at Freeport (1856). After a decade of profitable and laudable practice in that city he served two terms in the General Assembly, in which he was especially prominent in secur- ing restrictive legislation concerning railroads. He was first elected to the bench of the Thirteenth Circuit in 1877, and was reelected in 1879 and 1885. At his resignation in 1888 he was succeeded by John D. Crabtree, who was elected in 1891. Under the judicial apportionment of 1897, the number of circuits was in- creased from thirteen to seventeen, outside of Cook County. By the new divi- sion, the Rock River Valley of Illinois was included in the Fourteenth, Fifteenth 278 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and Seventeenth Circuits. The judicial term remained at six years. Hiram Bigelow, of Galva, Henry County, was elected to the new Fourteenth Circuit in June, 1897, and William H. Gest, of Rock Island, and Frank D. Ramsay, of Morrison, were chosen as his associates at the same time. Messrs, Gest and Ram- say were reelected in 1903, and the third judge of the Fourteenth Circuit bench returned in that year was Emery C. Graves, of Geneseo. They were all chosen to another term and commissioned in June, 1909. Robert W. Olmstead, of Rock Island, succeeded Judge Gest in November, 1912. Judges Ramsay and Graves commenced another term in June, 1915, and Emery Graves, of Geneseo, was reelected in June, 1921. Nels A. Larson, of Moline, also commenced his term at that time, and Charles J. Searle, of Rock Island, first ascended the Circuit bench in December, 1922. Judge John D. Crabtree, who had served for a number of years on the Thir- teenth Circuit bench was a member of the new Fifteenth Circuit at the time of his death in 1902. Richard S. Farrand, also of Dixon, who succeeded him was elected to that bench in June, 1903, reelected in 1909 and 1915, and died in judicial service in August, 1920. Oscar E. Heard, of Freeport, was elected t the Fifteenth Circuit Court in June, 1915, and reelected in 1921; Harry Ed- wards, of Dixon, also ascended it at the same time. In June, 1897, Charles E. Fuller, of Belvidere, succeeded John C. Carver, deceased, who had been a judge of the old Thirteenth Circuit and had been carried over to the new Seventeenth. He resigned in 1902 to push his congres- sional aspirations, and served in the House of Representatives from 1903 to 1913, 1915 to 1921, and 1923 to 1925. Mr. Fuller represents the Twelfth Con- gressional District, which includes Boone and Winnebago counties as its northern section. He is the only congressman in Illinois who resides in the Rock River Valley. Prior to his service as congressman, he had been city and state's attor- ney and concluded three terms in the lower house of the Illinois Legislature and two terms in the State Senate. He was a colonel in the Spanish-American war and is altogether a public man of high standing. Arthur H. Frost, of Rockford, succeeded Judge Fuller in the Seventeenth Circuit in March, 1902, was elected in June, 1903, and died on the bench in November, 1917. Robert W. Wright, of Belvidere, was elected to the Seven- teenth Circuit bench in June, 1903, was reelected at the expiration of his term and was succeeded by Charles Whitney, of Waukegan, in April, 1911. Robert K. Welsh, of Rockford, who succeeded Judge Frost in 1917, was elected to the full term in June, 1921. Earl D. Reynolds, of Rockford, ascended the bench in October, 1923. The constitution provides for the election of a judge and clerk of each county, with a four-years' term of office, although the General Assembly is empowered to create judicial districts of two or more contiguous counties. The Legislature may also provide for the establishment of a Probate Court in each county having a population of over 50,000. Otherwise the county courts have jurisdiction in all matters of probate and the settlement of estates of deceased persons, They are also courts of record and have original jurisdiction in mat- ters relating to apprentices, the collection of taxes and assessments and such other jurisdiction as may be provided by general law. In addition to the courts mentioned, there are those presided over by justices of the peace and police mag- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 279 istrates, special consideration of which is reserved for the separate histories of the counties. THE WISCONSIN JUDICIARY The courts of Wisconsin, as the other institutions of the commonwealth, came into being by authority of the constitution of 1848, which is noteworthy for the few amendments which have been added to the original instrument. By it, the judicial power of the State, both as to matters of law and equity, is vested in the Supreme, County and Circuit courts, and in justices of the peace. The office of justice of the peace is one of great antiquity in the English system of jurisprudence and in American communities has always been a very important agency in the administration of local government. Under the power to estab- lish other inferior courts, the Legislature has from time to time created municipal and police courts. In counties of the first class (Milwaukee County), there has also been created a civil court, which is intended to supplant justices courts and to provide for the trial of controversies of minor importance. Milwaukee County has also a District Court and a Municipal Court. As early as 1849, the office of judge of probate was abolished, its functions being assumed by the County Court which was given jurisdiction over all mat- ters pertaining to the estates of deceased persons. It has jurisdiction of these matters, as well as the guardianship of minors and incompetents and has certain other powers conferred upon it by the Legislature. It has been said by students of legal and judicial matters that the Wisconsin constitution vested the Circuit Court with greater powers than were probably ever before, in a free government, delegated to any one tribunal. "At the time of the adoption of the constitution," says Marvin B. Eosenberry, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, "the question of whether or not judges should be elected by the people, or appointed by the governor, was a very important one. Xo doubt the framers of the constitution more readily provided for the delega- tion of such great power because of the fact that the constitution provided that the judges of the Circuit Court should be elected by the people for the term of six years. The merits of the appointive and elective, systems for the judiciary are still matters of public debate. It is provided by the constitution that: the circuit courts shall have original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal within this State, not excepted in this constitution and not hereafter prohibited by law ; and appellate jurisdiction from all inferior courts and tribunals, and a supervisory control over the same. They shall also have the power to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, injunction, quo warranto, certiorari, and all other writs necessary to carry into effect their orders, judgments and decrees, and give them a general control over inferior courts and jurisdictions." Borrowing again from the paper on "Wisconsin Courts," contributed to the Blue Book of 1925, byWistice Rosenberry : "The Supreme Court under the con- stitution is vested with the power to hear appeals from Circuit Courts and other courts as may be provided from time to time by the Legislature. It may, also, in a certain class of cases, exercise what is called original jurisdiction, and may from time to time issue writs or processes described in the constitution. * * * The decisions of the Supreme Court in cases before it upon appeal, or brought 280 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY before it in the exercise of its original jurisdiction, are conclusive and final ex- cept in those cases where questions arising under the United States Constitu- tion, or the laws of the United States, are involved. In the Supreme Court all cases are heard upon the record ; no witnesses are sworn, no juries are impaneled. When it becomes necessary for the court to ascertain the facts in a controversy pending before it, it is usually done by referring the matter to a referee or com- missioner to ascertain the facts." There are also in the State of Wisconsin, courts of the United States known as the District Court for the Eastern District and the District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. These courts hear, try and determine contro- versies arising under the laws of the United States and they proceed in a gen- eral way as do the Circuit Courts of the State. The judiciary of the State is thus sketched in its sharp outlines, and the step now to be taken is to indicate how the legal personnel of the Rock River Valley of Wisconsin are identified with the higher courts of the Badger State ; the lower, will receive mention in the histories of the counties. Since the Supreme Court of the State has become a separate organization, the justices of that body who were residents of the Rock River Valley have been as follows : EDWARD V. WHITON, CHIEF JUSTICE Edward V. Whiton, chief justice, died at his home in Janesville, on April 12, 1859. At the time of his death he had been serving as head of the Supreme Court since June 1, 1853. Justice Whiton was a native of Massachusetts and of a distinguished Revolutionary family. He came to Wisconsin in 1837, settled on the site of Janesville, began practice and in 1838 commenced his long and distinguished connection with the legislation and laws of Wisconsin. His first service was in the lower house of the Legislature as representative for Rock and Walworth counties. For a number of years thereafter, he was in both branches of the Legislature, a portion of this period as speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1847, he was sent as a delegate to the convention which devised and promulgated the constitution of the State. In the following year he became a member of the first Supreme Court of Wisconsin and in 1853 was chosen its chief. While on the bench, Chief Justice Whiton decided some of the most important cases in the jurisprudence of early Wisconsin, especially in connection with the Fugitive Slave law, while his revision of the State laws is standard. HARLOW S. ORTON Harlow S. Orton was a resident of Madison for more than forty years and during most of that long period was on the bench of the higher courts. He was born in New York, read law in Kentucky, was admitted to practice in the State of Indiana, and was therefore of broad and impartial mind. Judge Orton served on the Probate bench while residing in the Hoosier State. He practiced in Milwaukee about four years before locating in Madison (1851). Several terms in the General Assembly of Wisconsin preceded his selection to the bench of tlie THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 281 Ninth Circuit, which occurred in 1859 and carried him through the Civil war period. He then returned to practice for a time, but in April, 1878, ascended the Supreme bench and continued a distinguished service in that court until his death, July 4, 1895. He had been chief justice ex officio since January, 1894. SILAS U. PINNEY Silas U. Pinney, after having been identified with the bench and bar of Dane County for a period of forty-five years, resigned as an associate justice of the State Supreme Court in November, 1898. He had settled in Windsor, then a part of Madison, as early as 1853, studied law with Levi B. Vilas and com- menced practice in the capital city during the following year. He had become a leader in both local and State affairs, having served twice as mayor of Madi- son, when, in 1870, the State Supreme Court appointed him a special reporter to codify the decisions of the Territorial Supreme Court and the first State Su- preme Court, covering the period from 1836 to 1853. The result, known as Finney's Wisconsin Reports, are invaluable to the profession. JOHN B. CASSODAY John B. Cassoday, one of the most brilliant and substantial of Wisconsin lawyers, legislators and judges, was for many years a citizen whom Janesville most delighted to honor. After enjoying a thorough general and legal education in New York and Michigan, he located in that city in 1857, and for a decade added his strength to the well known legal firm of Bennett, Cassoday & Gibbs. In 1864, Mr. Cassoday was sent as a delegate to the Baltimore convention which renominated Lincoln. From 1865 to 1877 he served as a member of the Wis- consin House of Representatives, for several terms as speaker, and in 1880 was selected as a delegate to the National Republican Convention, being chairman of the Wisconsin body. In November of that year, Mr. Cassoday was appointed an associate justice of the State Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Justice Orsamus Cole, and in April, 1881, was elected for the unexpired term ending January, 1890. He was reelected for three successive terms, became chief justice ex officio, following the death of Harlow S. Orton, in July, 1895, and himself passed away December 30, 1907. Robert M. Bashford, who served on the Supreme bench a few months in 1908 after the death of Justice Cassoday, was a native of Wisconsin, a graduate of the law department of the State University, served several terms in the Legis lature and revised the statutes of the State. He was also editor and proprietor of the Madison Democrat for a time and compiled the Legislative Manual for a number of years. Burr W. Jones, one of the seven justices of the State Supreme Court, now on the bench, is a native of the town of Union, near Evansville, Rock County. He was educated at Evansville Seminary and the State University, graduating from the Law School of the latter in 1871. Most of his professional practice was pursued in Dane County, in which he was district attorney for four years and a member of the Forty-eighth Congress. He was a prominent Democrat and from 1885 to 1915 served as a professor in the Wisconsin University Law School, lie 282 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY degree of LL. D. being conferred upon him in 1916. For some time he was chair- man of the Dane County Bar Association and in 1908 was president of the Stat Bar Association. He is the author of a treatise on the Law of Evidence, pub- lished in 1896 and followed by several editions. Judge Jones was appointed asso- ciate justice of the Supreme Court by Governor Emanuel Philipp, September 3, 1920, and elected in April, 1922, for the term ending January, 1926. E. Ray Stevens, of Madison, whose judicial term expires in January 1, 1927, presides over the Ninth Circuit ; George Grimm, of Jefferson, whose term expires in January, 1931, over the Twelfth, and Charles M. Davison, of Juneau, whose term ends in January, 1930, over the Thirteenth. Of the attorney generals, who are at the head of the legal department of the State, the following have been residents of the Rock River Valley : George B. Smith, Madison, from January 2, 1854, to January 7, 1856; Charles R. Gill, Watertown, January 1, 1866-January 3, 1870; A. Scott Sloan, Beaver Dam, Jan- uary 5, 1874-January 7, 1878; James L. O'Connor, Madison, January 5, 1891- January 7, 1895 ; Frank L. Gilbert, Madison, January 7, 1907-January 2, 1911 ; Herman L. Ekern, Madison, January 1, 1923. GEORGE B. SMITH George B. Smith, of Madison, who was attorney general in 1854-56, was a New Yorker, who settled at Kenosha, Wis., for practice in 1843 and two years afterward located at Madison, the territorial capital. After he had been chosen as district attorney of Dane County, in 1846, he was sent to the convention which framed the constitution under which Wisconsin was admitted to the Union. He was the youngest delegate to participate in its proceedings. He afterward served as mayor of Madison, was prominent in the General Assembly and in State politics, as a democrat, and died in 1879. James C. Hopkins, a New York lawyer who settled at Madison in 1856, was associated in practice with Harlow S. Orton, and in 1870 became judge of the newly created Western District circuit. He died in 1877. Herman L. Ekern, present attorney general, is a native of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, and a graduate from the Law School of the University of Wisconsin. For a dozen years or more he practiced law, served as district attor- ney and was several terms in the Legislature. In 1906, General Ekern was a member of the legislative committee which investigated the life insurance busi- ness of the State and in 1909-10 was deputy commissioner of insurance, after- ward, for several years, serving as head of the department. Since 1915, he has specialized in insurance law, both in Madison and Chicago. In this practice he has been employed as general counsel for associations of farmers, and other mutual fire, automobile and casualty insurance companies throughout the United States. In 1922, Mr. Ekern was elected attorney general of Wisconsin as a progressive republican. He participated in the Republican National Conven- tions of 1908, 1920 and 1924, and served as chairman of the National Finance Committee of the La Follette-Wheeler campaign in 1924. He was reelected at- torney general of Wisconsin, with a majority of 267,446. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 283 ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE The late senior United States senator from Wisconsin, Robert M. La Follette, was so many years in the eyes of his countrymen as a public man that his repu- tation and ability as a lawyer were overshadowed by the more prominent phases of his career. But he was preeminently a man of the Rock River Valley. He was born at Primrose, Dane County, on June 14, 1855; was graduated from the University of Wisconsin with the class of 1879; admitted to the bar in February, L880, and during the fall was elected district attorney of Dane County and reelected in 1882. From 1884, until his death June 18, 1925, he was per- haps the most discussed man in the public life of the nation. He served three terms in Congress, nearly three terms as governor and four, in the United States Senate. Three times a candidate for the republican presidential nomination and finally, in the fall of 1924, an independent candidate for the presidency, he went down in defeat, still the versatile and virile character over which the men and women of the nation were earnestly divided. WILLIAM F. VILAS William F. Vilas, son of the distinguished lawyer, Levi B. Vilas, achieved a fame which made him a national character. He was of a Vermont family, which was planted in Madison in 1851, when William F. was in his twelfth year. Grad- uating from the Albany Law School in 1860, he entered practice at Madison in June, but in 1862 recruited a company and entered the Union service. After reaching the grade of lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-third Illinois Infantry, he resigned and reentered practice. While thus actively engaged, he served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, and also engaged in a revision of the statutes of the State. While a member of the Legislature, in 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed Mr. Vilas postmaster general. He succeeded the able L. Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi, as secretary of the interior and held that office in 1888-89. Acting as a delegate from Wisconsin to the democratic national conventions of 1876, 1880, 1884, 1892 and 1896, his pronounced leadership in the democracy of the United States was strengthened by his service in the Na- tional Senate during 1891-97. The State University is much indebted to former Senator Vilas for his steadfast work and consistent influence in its behalf. He served on its Board of Regents in 1881-85 (being honored with his LL. D. dur- ing the latter year) ; was also a member of that body in 1898-1903. Another work by which Mr. Vilas will be remembered is his editorship of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Reports in association with Ed. E. Bryant. His death occurred August 27, 1908. MATTHEW II. CARPENTER Matthew II. Carpenter, one of the most brilliant and eloquent lawyers and public men ever identified with Wisconsin's history was a son of Vermont, was admitted to the bar in 1845 and moved to Wisconsin in 1848. In the early years of his career he resided at Beloit and had a large practice in Janesville. During that period, it is said that the clashes of wit and learning between Car- 284 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY penter and David Nogle, that sturdy and alert lawyer of Janesville, were events in the legal annals of the day long remembered and discussed. Mr. Carpenter afterward moved to Milwaukee, served in the United States Senate from 1869 to 1881, and until his death in February of that year was a lawyer, orator and public character of national fame. Janesville has been the home of many brilliant men and women. One of the able members of the Wisconsin bar and a highly honored citizen of that place was the late John M. Whitehead. He stood high in his profession, having served in 1921 as president of the State Bar Association, but had a record of four terms in the State Senate (1896-1912). The deceased was prominent in religious and philanthropic work, and from 1894 to 1916 was president of the State Y. M. C. A. He was also identified with educational matters and with the development of the Janesville Public Library. PIONEER WOMEN LAWYERS Janesville was also the home town of two of the pioneer women lawyers of Wisconsin — Lavinia Goodell and Kate Kane. Miss Goodell passed the examina- tion entitling her to practice in 1874. She was refused admission to the bar, however, on the ground that the statute provided for the admission of ' ' persons, ' ' which the court construed as applying only to men. But Miss Goodell went to Madison in 1876 and was the means of having the Legislature pass a bill to the effect that no "person" should be denied admission to the bar, or license to practice law, on account of sex. She afterward formed a partnership with Angie King for the practice of her profession. Miss Kane, who passed the examination in 1878, afterward went to Milwaukee, where she became an ag- gressive and well known criminal lawyer. OTHER NOTED FIGURES OF ROCK COUNTY AND THE 12TH CIRCUIT Among the prominent railroad attorneys may be mentioned George R. Peck, afterward general counsel for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad for many years, and Edward Hyzer, subsequently general counsel for the Chicago & North Western Railway. Hon. I. C. Sloan was for many years dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School and A. Scott Sloan, of Beaver Dam, attor- ney general of the State and judge of the Circuit Court. John R. Bennett, an able Janesville lawyer, and judge of the Circuit Court, was at one time asso- ciated in practice with John B. Cassoday, so long identified with the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. B. F. Dunwiddie, of Janesville, also served on that bench, as well as John Winans, who went to Congress. JUDGE GEORGE GRIMM ON JUDICIAL CONCILIATION Year by year, judicial conciliation, commonly referred to as "settling cases out of court," has been steadily gaining favor with both the bench and the peo- ple; and many of the higher-grade lawyers are coming over to the plan. There is no more earnest advocate of "Judicial Conciliation" than George Grimm, judge of the Twelfth Circuit, embracing Rock and Jefferson counties. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 285 At the 1915 session of the Board of Circuit Judges of Wisconsin he read a thoughtful and suggestive paper on the subject from which the following ex- tracts arc taken : As Long as our State Constitution has existed there has been in it a par- agraph authorizing the creation of courts of conciliation. It is to be regretted that this constitutional provision has, up to the present time, been ignored by the legislature. The only attempt to respond to its spirit was an effort to pro- vide for the settlement of disputes by arbitration. But arbitration has proven to be a decided failure. It partakes of the elements of a judicial trial and deter- mination, and not of conciliation. It does not meet the popular need, and is rarely resorted to except in instances where the sentiment of conciliation already exists and the parties mutually concede to each other an honest difference in opinion. Wherever any one or more of the long gamut of human passions impels or enters into the dispute — as is nearly always the case — arbitration is foreign to the desire. "Courts of conciliation we know only as they exist in European countries. While they have to their credit a large measure of success, their limitations are such that they do not appeal to us with the force their title suggests. So far as I am able to learn they all bar advocacy of either party's claims by those learned in the art. While this is heralded as their crowning virtue, it is to my mind their greatest handicap to success in administering equal justice. The only thing it has to recommend it is the saving of expense to the parties, while on the other hand it must in many cases result in inadequate presentation of the facts out of which the issue arises. If disputants must present their claims themselves as best they can, the shrewder of the two, the one best able to mar- shal and present his facts and weigh the force and bearing of each, may gain a great advantage over a less competent opponent. The importance of equality in ability and skill in the presentation of the facts is apparent when we remem- ber that so long as conciliators are subject to human limitations, just so long must they resort to human means to learn the facts and cannot get them by intuition, nor by discerning the thoughts and intents of the hearts of litigants, nor yet by revelation or inspiration. And if the conciliator is not fully and truly advised of the facts how can he be certain that his decision is just? "There is, however, another limitation to the efficiency and usefulness of these European so-called courts of conciliation by reason of which they do not appeal very strongly or favorably to Americans. I refer to the fact that they are too largely based upon the principle of compulsory arbitration, and are without appeal in all cases where the amount involved is small. If the concilia- tor fails to conciliate he enters judgment, which is final. The inherent danger of such a system depending upon the ability of the parties to present their own cases as much as upon the intelligence, perspicacity and integrity of the con- ciliator, docs not commend such courts to the American mind. Compulsory arbi- tration under such circumstances is even more distasteful to the average citizen than voluntary arbitration as it is now offered. "Is there then no way in which a nearer approach to the accomplishment of the higher ideal of courts, that of ending strife and promoting peace, may be attained .' Surely there is; and many are finding it. There are many upon whom the light has broken and in following its lead they are achieving a meas- 286 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ure of good they had hardly dared to hope for. I firmly believe that the time is swiftly passing when trial judges will consider their sole duty to be to hear, try and determine issues, referee forensic battles, announce their decisions or pass sentence ; when courts will cease in ever-increasing measure to be merely forums for the clash of opposing arms; where victory goes to the one who wields the sword of legal lore with the greatest skill. I believe the hour has struck and that the public hails it with joy when trial judges, appreciative of their opportunity, will make an effort to aid litigants to adjust their disputes without trial upon a basis that shall be equitable, and mutually acceptable. "None realize better than trial judges what bitterness, what hatred and angry passions are often aroused during the trial of a case and how its blighting in- fluence infects at times whole neighborhoods, ready to break out again and again for years and generations to come at the first opportunity that presents itself ; and surely none wish more heartily than they do to aid in adjusting disputes without a trial. Unmindful, perhaps, heretofore of the splendid opportunities of their position, or underestimating the trust and confidence imposed in them by their fellow-citizens, there are indications now that judges are beginning to feel that they have followed all too long the narrow and laborious footsteps of genera- tions of predecessors, and that they intend to strike out along a better path. Yielding to the mutations in human desires tending toward higher ideals and achievements, judges are beginning to break the fetters of stubborn precedent, and in doing so they are making a discovery. They find that by sound advice based upon the wisdom garnered in years of experience, mindful of the char- acteristics of men, their foibles and weaknesses as well as their sterling quali- ties, and backed by a knowledge of law and principles of equity, the judge can heal the turbulent emotions and make sober sense again to prevail when the advice is given with gentleness and kindness and a fellow-feeling that holds no sense of condemnation for anyone ; that he can bring about the settlement of dis- putes upon lines of fairness and right; that very often he can do much more, namely, establish friendship between the individuals and their sympathizers and reap their everlasting gratitude. "If I may allude to my own limited personal experience I can truly say that during all my days upon the bench — now nearly twenty years — I have never been as happy in my work or felt that I had done as much good to my fellows, or reaped as many thanks from individuals and expressions of approval from the public as I have in the last three years — during which time I abandoned the old rut of trying every case that was called and made a deliberate effort to bring about a settlement that was either entirely fair and just or was at least the most reasonable and sensible thing to be done under the existing circum- stances of each case. You may well believe that practice had many a valuable lesson in store for me. The first and more important I had to learn was never to let a refusal by either side to accept my suggestions or advice arouse in me the slightest sense of ill-feeling which might influence my judgment if I were finally obliged to try the case upon the merits. It was fortunate that I had an early demonstration of the necessity of holding myself well in hand in that regard, and I shall tell you briefly what it was. A woman past middle age had sued her son for a considerable sum of money alleged to be owing upon a con THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 287 tract involving either the lease or purelia.se of some land — I have forgotten which. The son claimed that he had paid it. Now if there are cases which above all others I desire to see adjusted it is those involving families. I there- fore urged the son to offer his mother such reasonable sum in settlement as she mighl probably accept. He positively declined to offer any compromise whatever, claiming that his mother's second husband was at the bottom of it all, and that his mother was but a willing tool in her husband's hands. Assuming that there might be some measure of truth in his assertion, I nevertheless felt there must be some reasonable basis for the suit, if only because of the well-known ability and integrity of plaintiff's counsel; and when the son persisted in his refusal I confess I felt edgeways toward him, and began the trial in hardly that strictly impartial frame of mind a judge should have. And here began my lesson. It developed upon the trial that all the son had claimed was true, — and more. ( 'nnfronted with positive proof of the falsity of her claim, the mother cut a sorry figure in her attempt to squirm out of her predicament. It developed that in league with her second husband she had deceived her lawyer and attempted to use the machinery of the court to perpetrate a deliberate fraud upon her son. When the trial was finished the son had won his case, and — I had learned a valuable lesson. Again, experience has taught me that my primary and con- trolling purpose must always be to bring about friendly relations as far as possible, and with that end in view it is imperative that the settlement when accomplished be fair and just to both parties wdienever such a thing is humanly possible; it must at least be the wisest and most expedient thing to do so as to commend itself to sound judgment. Also, I have learned that it is unwise to resort to pressure upon litigants to induce them to settle. Indeed, I have found my best success in uniform kindness and appeal to reason and in approving, encouraging and countenancing only such settlements as were satisfactory and voluntary when finally consummated. "Perhaps the most surprising thing to the uninitiated in connection with this practice of conciliation is the support granted it by the members of the bar, and the fact that they often render invaluable assistance; but that is easily explained. Knowing that to be of the greatest benefit, settlements must be such as will appeal to one's sense of justice and wisdom, it becomes of prime im- portance that the judge be fully advised of the claims and contentions of the parties, and none is as capable of doing this as efficiently as the skilled advocate. I therefore first invite the attorneys to a conference and depend upon them to advise me reasonably of the facts. I listen patiently to their representation of the situation. I perhaps ask for an offer of terms and counter-offer — conditioned, of course, upon the clients' subsequent approval. Parenthetically let me say, that I never hurry a settlement. After a full discussion a fair basis of adjust- ment is tentatively agreed upon. The attorneys then talk it over with their clients, or invite them into the conference where everything is made plain to them. The upshot almost invariably is that the case is settled with a minimum of expense, and all worry on part of the litigants over the possible outcome is eliminated. The attorney's compensation is usually liberal; and, best of all, it is gladly paid by the parties, who naturally feel relieved to have the trouble over with. Except in cases where settlements seem out of place — and there are such 288 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY cases — I have always had the hearty assistance of the attorneys on both sides, not only in my own circuit but in others where I have been called upon to tem- porarily preside. Indeed, whenever I have found any real opposition to a settle- ment on the part of an attorney for either side, it generally turned out in the end that there was some valid reason for it, and I soon learned not to interfere where this situation presented itself. We all know that there are cases which ought not to be settled; where one of the parties deserves the best whipping he can get in a lawsuit — cases brought only to gratify spite, hate or revenge, and others brought to perpetrate fraud or legal robbery. In such cases the truth may be known to the opposing attorney, but it may seem to him inex- pedient or impossible to explain or expose it before trial. It is well, therefore, to trust the attorneys, feeling sure that they will favor settlement whenever proper as soon as they learn that their personal interests are not going to be sacrificed, but rather protected by the court. Broadly speaking, attorneys are perhaps the most useful and necessary members of any community, as society if? now constituted. Without their labors many injuries would remain unredressed and many individual rights would be violated. The value of their services, there- fore, never should be underestimated, and the court should see to it when settlements are made that their allowance is not cut short. If the judge wishes to achieve the greatest success in the trial of cases, but especially in healing up the differences between litigants he should consistently strive to win the trust and confidence and even the friendship of the members of his bar ; and if he does this he will not only contribute to the peaceful relations of the com- munity, elevate the bar in the confidence and estimation of the public, make his own labors less and more agreeable, but he will save the public unnecessary and often great expense, and gain the unqualified approval of his fellow-cit- izens." CIRCUIT JUDGES OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY Over in Winnebago County, Illinois, the bench and bar were also crowded with able and good men and women. In 1841, the judiciary of the State was reorganized and divided among nine circuits. Additional justices of the Su- preme Court were appointed, who were required to do circuit duty. The judi- ciary, as thus organized, was continued until the entire appointive system was abolished by the constitution of 1848. Under the new system the first judge assigned to circuit duty in Rockford was Thomas C. Browne, who had served continuously as one of the judges of the State Supreme Court from October 9, 1818, until December 4, 1848, or from the adoption of the first constitution to the reorganization of the judiciary under the constitution of 1848. The first judge of the Circuit Court to become identified with Rockford as a citizen was Benjamin R. Sheldon, who was elected judge of the Sixth Circuit in 1848, and afterward was assigned to the Fourteenth Circuit a judicial divi- sion of the former. He remained on the Circuit bench until 1870, when he was elected a justice of the Supreme Court, presiding as chief justice in 1877. He was reelected in 1879, but retired in 1888. Judge Sheldon then became a resi- dent of Rockford, where he died in April, 1897. He left an estate valued at THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 289 $2,000,000. He bequeathed $10,000 to the Young Men's Christian Association of Rockford and $10,000 to Rockford College. William Brown was the first judge to be elected to the Circuit bench while a citizen of Rockford. lie was chosen in 1870 to fill the vacancy occasioned by the promotion of Judge Sheldon to the Supreme Court. Under the judicial apportionment of 1873, Jo Daviess, Stephenson and Winnebago counties formed the First Circuit, and in the following June Judge Brown was elected to preside over it. lie presided over that circuit for three terms of six years each, making the total period of his judicial service more than twenty years. Judge Joseph M. Bailey, of Freeport, was Circuit judge for about fourteen years, was several times assigned to duty on the Appellate bench, was elected to the Supreme bench in 1888 and died in office in October, 1895. John V. Eustace settled in Dixon in 1842, and while in practice and in judicial service made that place his home until his death in 1888. He was first elected circuit judge in 1857, and during the last decade of his life served als on the bench. John D. Crabtree was an Englishman who emigrated to America in the early '4<>s, spent a number of years on a farm near Pecatonica, Winnebago County, and then located in Lee County, where he passed the remainder of his life. In 1888, he was elected judge of the Thirteenth Circuit to succeed Judge Bailey and in 1891 was reelected for the full term. Judge Crabtree died suddenly at Ottawa, while attending a session of the Appellate Court. James H. Cartwright, who succeeded Joseph M. Bailey to the Supreme bench in 1895 and is still in service, although more than eighty years of age, is a son of Rev. Barton H. Cartwright, a pioneer Methodist minister, and a kinsman of Peter Cartwright, the famous missionary. In 1888, he was elected circuit judge to succeed Judge Eustace and in 1891 was assigned to appellate duty. John C. Garver was born on a farm near Pecatonica, was admitted to the bar in 1871 and began practice at, Rockford. He served two terms as state's attorney of Winnebago County previous to his election to the Circuit bench, in 1895, to succeed Judge Cartwright upon the elevation of the latter to the Su- preme bench. Judge Garver was elected to the Seventeenth Circuit under the apportionment of 1897 and died in November, 1901. Arthur H. Frost, of Rockford, filled out the unexpired term of John C. Garver, as judge of the Seventeenth Circuit. At an early age he came to Rock- ford from Vermont, w r as admitted to the bar in 1879, served Rockford as a police magistrate, and Winnebago County, as state's attorney, for a number of terms before he ascended the Circuit bench. He served for fifteen years, or until his death in 1917. Robert W. Wright, of Belvidere, was elected to the bench in 1903 to succeed Charles E. Fuller, who had resigned to run for Congress. He was the elder son of the late O. II. Wright, of Belvidere, who once represented the Rockford dis- trict in the Legislature. Judge Wright had been state's attorney of Boone County for four terms and served as circuit judge for nearly eight years, or until his death in November, 1910. Charles II. Whitney succeeded Judge Wright, as the result of a special elec- tion, and was commissioned in April, 1911. He dropped dead while conversing with a client in the courthouse chambers at Waukegan July 18, 1914. 290 THE EOCK RIVER VALLEY SELDEN M. CHURCH Previous to 1837 a judge of probate was appointed for each county by the Legislature. In that year, the office was made elective, with the title of probate justice of the peace. The constitution of 1848 abolished this court and trans- ferred its powers to the judge of the County Court. Milton Kilburn was the first judge of probate. Selden M. Church was the first county judge under the constitution of 1848 and served from 1849 to 1857. Judge Church was one of the pioneers of the Rock River Valley. He came west from New York in his thirty-second year, and after investigating Chicago and Geneva, for about a year, settled at Rockford in the autumn of 1836. Dur- ing his early residence in the township, he was on intimate and friendly terms with the Winnebago Indians, and secured the confidence of red and white men alike. He filled the offices of postmaster, county clerk and county judge. In 1847, he was a delegate from Winnebago County to the Constitutional Conven- tion, and, as stated, served eight years as the first county judge under the instru- ment adopted by that body. Judge Church was sent to the General Assembly in 1862 ; became a member of the State Board of Charities in 1868 and was one of the commissioners chosen by the Government to locate the bridge at Rock Island which was completed in 1872. The death of Judge Church occurred Feb- ruary 9, 1908, and was widely and deeply regretted. The bar of Winnebago County has always been distinguished for its sub- stantial and elevated character. John C. Kemble, the first lawyer to practice in Winnebago County, was a gentleman of ability, and had been a member of the New York General Assembly previous to locating at Rockford in 1837. Mr. Kemble 's practice amounted to little, as he became insane in 1840 and he was taken to an eastern asylum, where he died soon afterward. The '50s witnessed the advent of numerous lawyers to Rockford, and not a few of them earned high standing in their profession. James G. Manlove began the practice in 1851, but became better known for his local public service than for his legal abilities. From 1864 to 1890 he served almost con- tinuously as town clerk, and died in November of the latter year. Elijah W. Blaisdell was a journalist and an organizer of the new republican party when he first settled in Rockford; was later a member of the Legislature and a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln, and finally a lawyer of many years practice. He died in 1901. Christopher M. Brazee is characterized as "one of the most aggressive ad- vocates who ever practiced at the bar of Winnebago County." He first came to Rockford in 1855 from New York, his native state. A few years later he was admitted to the bar. He was city attorney from 1860 to 1872. He served for a time in the Civil war and for ten years preceding his death in 1886 was colonel of the Third Regiment Illinois National Guard. He was a man and a lawyer of energy and ability. WILLIAM LATHROP William Lathrop was considered for many years one of the State's most distinguished men and the Rock River Valley is honored by his work and THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 291 character, as well as by the abilities and moral character of his daughter, Miss Julia Lathrop. The father was a native of Genesee County, N. Y., and after- being admitted to the bar of that State turned his attention to the West. In January of the following year (1851) he came to Rockford and immediately took his place among the men who count in its development. He was its first city clerk, being chosen in 1852, and in the following year was appointed city attorney. From 1853 to 1857 he was a partner of James L. Loop, one of the ablest lawyers of Winnebago County. During that period he was a member of the State Assembly, and twenty years afterward succeeded Stephen A. Hurlbut as member of Congress from the Fourth District. Despite the fact that he was a stanch republican and one of the founders of the party in Illinois, Mr. Lathrop was essentially a lawyer and a man of public service, rather than a place-seeking politician. For many years he was a trustee of Rockford College and a promoter of the local public parks. During his long residence at Rockford, he served as counsel for many of the large industrial firms of the city and probably had personal charge of the settlement of more estates than any other attorney in the city. He owned one of the finest law libraries in the Valley and was always a close student. His death resulted from an accident at the Fair Grounds Park, on November 17, 1907, that at- tractive area being largely a monument to his energy and forethought. JAMES L. LOOP James L. Loop, noted in the foregoing sketch, settled in Belvidere in 1838, and some years later formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Stephen A. Hurlbut. In 1843-45 he was prosecuting attorney for the Northern Dis- trict of Illinois, and secretary of the Illinois & Michigan Canal in 1846-50. In 1856 Mr. Loop was elected mayor of Rockford and served one term. His death occurred February 8, 1865, when he was only fifty years of age. The remains were taken to Belvidere for burial. It is said, by the common con- sent of the Rockford bar, that James L. Loop possessed the finest legal ability of any man who had ever practiced therein. STEPHEN A. HURLBUT General Stephen A. Hurlbut, whom Mr. Lathrop succeeded in Congress, was also a resident of Belvidere for many years and one of the notables of the Rock River Valley. He was an able lawyer, as well as a distinguished general in the Civil war. A native of Charleston, S. C, he received a liberal educa- tion and was admitted to the bar in 1837, shortly before he made his home in Belvidere. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1847, was a prominent whig, was one of the organizers of the republican party in 1856, and in 1858 and 1860 was elected to the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. During the War of the Rebellion he served with distinction from May, 1861, to July, 1865. He entered the service as brigadier general com- manding the Fourth Division of Grant's army at Pittsburg Landing; was made a major general in September, 1862, and later assigned to the command of the Sixteenth Army Corps, at Memphis, and subsequently to the command Vol. 1—19 292 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of the Department of the Gulf (1864-65). After the war he served another term in the General Assembly, was chosen presidential elector for the State- at-large, and in 1869-72 was minister resident to the United States of Colombia. General Hurlbut then served two terms in Congress as a republican, and in 1876 was defeated for reelection by William Lathrop while running as an inde- pendent. In 1881, he was appointed minister resident to Peru, and died at Lima on March 27th of the following year. ROCKFORD WOMEN LAWYERS Rock River Valley, and Rockford in particular, has the distinction of mother- ing two of the pioneer women lawyers of the world. Miss Alta M. Hulett was the first woman to apply for admission to the legal fraternity in "Winne- bago County and was only preceded by one pioneer lawyer of her sex in Illinois — Mrs. Myra Bradwell, of Chicago. Miss Hulett was the daughter of a farmer living a few miles north of Rockford, and after graduating from the East Side High School of that city began the study of law. Although C. M. Brazee. A. S. Miller and J. M. Wight recommended her to the State Supreme Court for admission to the bar that body refused to grant her a license to practice. Through her persistence, supported by the local attorneys and her friends, an act finally passed the Legislature enabling women to practice at the Illinois bar, and Miss Hulett went to Chicago to take up her professional work. Finally her health failed and she went to California, where she died. Catherine Waugh McCulloch was the second woman of Rockford to be ad- mitted to practice, and she is one of the best known women in public life today. She is of New York birth and graduated from Rockford Seminary in 1882, after which she took a course in the Union College of Law, Chicago, and was admitted to the bar in 1886. THOMAS FORD AND EDWARD S. LELAND Ogle County has had a number of prominent lawyers and judges identified with its history. Thomas Ford and Edward S. Leland were its pioneer lawyers, residing in what was then Florence, afterward Oregon. Ford was prosecuting attorney for the old Galena district when it included virtually northern Illinois. From 1835 to 1841, while circuit judge of the Sixth and Ninth Circuits he resided in Oregon, but afterward, while serving as justice of the Supreme Court and governor, his official home was at Springfield. Edward S. Leland was of Maine birth and Massachusetts education, moved to Ottawa, 111., as a young lawyer in 1835, and located at Oregon in 1839. He practiced in that place for four years. Returning to Ottawa in 1843, for more than forty-five years he was a leading practitioner, circuit judge and public man of that city. Both Judge Ford and Mr. Leland were leading figures in bringing to justice the lawless characters which for a number of years terrorized Ogle, Lee, White- side, Winnebago and other counties of Northwestern Illinois, even extending their depredations into adjoining States and territories. They were called "Banditti of the Prairies," and extended their operations from Wisconsin to THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 293 St. Louis and from the Wabash to the Mississippi. Horse thieving was their specialty; and in those times the theft of a horse often meant disaster, if not death, to the pioneer. In the early days of the Ogle County region, before Lee County was taken from it, a great number of horses were bred and herded on the prairies. Every full-grown mare would have a colt running by her side. Most of the thefts were committed in the spring or autumn. In the former season the horses were turned to feed upon the green grass that grew luxuriantly, and in autumn they would be in the finest condition when they were fed on corn. The best of the droves were usually taken and passed from one station to another until they were sold in some distant market. FAMOUS TRIAL OP THE BANDITTI OF THE PRAIRIES William Cullen Bryant, the poet, who was visiting this western country in the summer of 1841, writing of these desperadoes, says: "In Ogle County. they seemed to have been bolder than elsewhere, and more successful, not- withstanding the notoriety of their crimes, in avoiding punishment. The im- possibility of punishing them, the burning of the court house at Oregon City last April, and the threats of deadly vengeance thrown out by them against such as should attempt to bring them to justice, led to the formation of a company of citizens — Regulators they called themselves — who determined to take the law into their own hands and drive the felons from the country. This extended over Ogle, De Kalb and Winnebago. The resistance to these des- peradoes resulted in the death of some of their number, who had been dea't with summarily, and some good citizens were assassinated by a band of thieves. "When I arrived in Dixon (June 21, 1841), I was told that the day before a man named Bridge, living at Washington Grove, Ogle County, came to town and complained that he had received notice from a certain association that he must leave the county before the 17th day of the month, or that he would be looked upon as a popular subject of lynch law. He asked for assistance to defend himself and dwelling against the lawless violence of these men. The people of Dixon came together and passed a resolution to the effect that they approved fully of what the inhabitants of Ogle County had done, and that they allowed Mr. Bridge the term of four hours to depart from the town of Dixon. He went away immediately and in great trepidation. This Bridge is a notorious confederate and harborer of horse thieves and counterfeiters. The thinly settled population of Illinois was much exposed to the depredations of horse thieves, who have a kind of center of operation in Ogle County, where it is said that they have a justice of the peace and constable among their own associates, and where they contrive to secure a friend on the jury whenever any one of their number is tried. Trial after trial had been held, and it was impossible to obtain conviction on the clearest evidence until April, 1841, when two horse thieves being on trial, eleven of the jury threatened the twelfth with a taste of the cowskin unless he would bring in a verdict of guilty. He did so, and the men were condemned. Before they were removed to the State Prison the court house burned down and the jail was in flames, but luckily they were extinguished without the liberation of the prisoners." The man, William 294 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY K. Bridge, who was compelled to flee from Dixon, had his family removed and house demolished on the 27th of the same month by the regulators. When Bryant reached the center of criminal disturbances in 1841 the climax of the fight between the banditti and the regulators had been reached. All of Northwestern Illinois was in a ferment and its respectable citizens were determined that justice should be done, that their rights should be protected even outside the jurisdiction of the courts. The bandits had their passwords, grips and signs of recognition, and they were otherwise closely organized for the common purpose of plunder and rapine. The organization was so strong as to set public justice at defiance, and, as intimated by Bryant, controlled trial juries and public officials. To meet this portentous combination, the law-abiding citizens met organization with organization. For instance, at Inlet, then part of Ogle County, was formed an Association for the Furtherance of the Cause of Justice. It had a cast-iron constitution and provision was made for a Committee of Vigilants. Another organization had its headquarters about White Rock, where a Mr. Long was elected captain in 1841. Shortly afterward, his mill was burned, and he resigned, being succeeded by John Campbell. The White Rock organization was at first composed of only fifteen men, and its first business in dealing with the criminal classes was to serve notice on several of the undesirable citizens of the county to depart at once, with the admonition that if they failed to heed the request the lash would be used. The first victim was a man named Hurl, who doubted the sincerity of this request, but, after taking the whipping joined the organization of honorable citizens and behaved himself thereafter beyond reproach. The regulating or- ganization rapidly grew until it embraced practically all the best men of the county. Among those notified to leave the country was the Driscoll family then living in the eastern part of Ogle County. Its members promised to depart, but instead called together a band of their outlaw friends, who met at the log house of Bridge (afterward driven away) near Washington Grove. It is be- lieved that the murder of Captain Campbell, energetic head of the regulators, was planned at that time and David and Taylor Driscoll selected to perform the dastardly act. At all events, on Sunday, June 27, 1841, the Driscolls went to Campbell's house at White Rock Grove, secreted themselves in some hazel brush, and when Campbell appeared at the door he was shot to death. Those who are believed to have assassinated Mr. Campbell escaped the regulators, but Taylor Driscoll returned to the county some years afterward and was acquitted of the charge. John Driscoll, their father, and two brothers, William and Pierce, were captured and brought to Stevenson's Mill, where, under a large oak tree, they were tried by a jury of 111 citizens. A court was organized, and counsel was appointed for prisoners and prosecution. A jury of 120 persons was suggested and called, nine of whom were rejected as a result of challenges. During the trial, which consumed the greater portion of the day, it is said that both John and William Driscoll made damaging statements, showing com- plicity in other crimes. As the trial was probably one of the most remarkable in the history of criminology, the details are quoted from the history of Ogle County, by Horace THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 295 G. and Rebecca II. Kauffman, as follows: "The verdict of this, the largest jury known in the criminal history of the world, was guilty as to John and William Driscoll, and not guilty as to Pierce Driscoll, and the sentence of the court was that the two guilty should be hanged, but afterward, on their re- quest, it was changed to death by shooting. Fifty-six men were detailed by this jury to execute one defendant, and fifty-five, the other; one gun placed in the hands of each of the two sets of executioners, it is said, not being loaded. The trims were handled by the committee and passed out to the executioners, so that no one might know who held the empty pieces. This afforded an opportunity for each and every one of them to feel and believe that it was not his rifle that contributed to the death of either of the victims. "Afterward, at the September term, 1841, of our Circuit Court, presided over by Judge Thomas Ford, then an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the State, a grand jury was empanelled, evidence heard, and two indict- ments returned against 111 persons, one charging the murder of William Driscoll, and the other, of John Driscoll. Part of the men indicted were members of this grand jury, and in a way contributed to present true bills of indict- ment against themselves. It is apparent, however, from an inspection of the record, that it was the desire of the regulators to have indictments returned so that there could be a trial and acquittal of those accused when the sur- roundings were favorable to that end. It is said that, as a matter of fact, Jonathan W. Jenkins, the person first named in each of these indictments, had nothing to do with the execution of the Driscolls, but was regarded as friendly to them, and it was feared he might furnish some damaging evidence. Under the law, as it then existed, a person indicted for a crime could not testify, and his mouth was closed by the returning of this indictment against him. "The indictments, framed in the peculiar phraseology of the time, were returned on Friday, September 24, 1841, and on the same day all but ten of the defendants were placed upon trial. Under the law then existing, each of the defendants had a right to the peremptory challenge of twenty men, and this would have disposed of 2,040 (2,020) jurors, a much larger number of men than were then in the county ; but, as I take it, no challenges were used by the defense. When the first case was called, an attorney named Knowl- ton asked leave to assist the People in the prosecution of the case, but his request was denied at the suggestion of the prosecuting attorney. It is said that the jury did not leave their seats before returning a verdict of not guilty. The same jurors were then accepted upon the trial of the other indictment and the same verdict was rendered. On the following day the states attorney, Seth Farwell, dismissed the indictment as to Jonathan W. Jenkins and the other nine who did not receive the benefit of an acquittal. Thus was ended a criminal litigation that was not only remarkable for the number of the ac- cused, but unique in the finding of the indictments. "Judge Ford, the presiding judge at the hearing of the lynchers cases in 1841. was then a resident of Oregon, and afterwards was elected governor of the State. It is said of him that he publicly from the bench admonished the banditti that he was about to leave his home, and that if they dared to disturb his family or property, he would gather a posse and take summary measures against them. It is also said of him that during the time when so 296 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY many guiltj^ men were escaping by verdicts of acquittal, a lawyer defending on a criminal charge, when speaking on the policy of the law that it better that ninety and nine guilty men escape than that one innocent man be con- victed, Judge Ford took a shot at him by remarking : ' That is the maxim of the law all right, but the trouble here is that the ninety-nine guilty have already escaped.' " The lynching, or rather, shooting of the Driscolls, demonstrating the strength of a thoroughly aroused public sentiment against the continued reign of law- lessness, proved the death-knell of the Banditti of the Prairies. The first term of the Sixth Circuit Court held in Ogle County was con- vened at Dixon and presided over by Judge Daniel Stone, who had been appointed in March. Father John Dixon was the foreman of the grand jury which returned seven true bills of indictment. The first conviction secured was in June, 1839, when John Porter was found guilty of counterfeiting and sent to the penitentiary for two years. At the same term was found the first bill of indictment for a violation of the duelling act. Upon the advice of Judge Ford, W. W. Fuller, a graduate of the Harvard Law School, located in Oregon in 1838 and until his death in 1849 was a prominent practitioner. Joseph Sears was also a leader of the bar, county clerk and master in chancery, and for forty years from 1852 was widely known at Oregon and elseAvhere in Northwestern Illinois. H. D. Hathaway was for a like period a prominent lawyer at Rochelle, and John D. Campbell was long the veteran lawyer of the county, with his residence at Polo. He served both as state's attorney and county judge. EDWARD SOUTHWICK Lee County was set off from Ogle in 1839 and in January of the follow- ing year was attached to the Sixth Judicial Circuit. The first term of court began at Dixon on the third Monday of April, 1840. Edward Southwick, the pioneer lawyer of Lee County, who had located at Dixon about three years before, was associated in one of the cases with W. W. Fuller, of Oregon. From the first, Southwick was considered the leader of the local bar, and his reputation spread far to the southward. As an illustration, when William Smith, brother of the Mormon prophet, resided in Lee County he formed such a high opinion of Mr. Southwick 's abilities that, in 1844, when the life of Joseph Smith was threatened in Carthage jail the Dixon attorney was sent for, post haste, to defend him. But his aid was sought at too late a day. The records show that the first case on the docket was that of John M. Kinzie, the famous Chicago pioneer, against William Wilkinson, appealed from Smith Gilbraith, a justice of the peace. But as Kinzie failed to appear in court, his case was dismissed and the costs — $4.17 1 / £ — taxed against him. In November, 1840, Mr. Southwick appeared in court, and on his motion, William W. Heaton was admitted to practice. Shepard G. Patrick, afterward a noted criminal lawyer, was admitted to practice in 1842, and in the follow- ing year John V. Eustace, who succeeded Heaton as judge of the Thirteenth Circuit, also became a member of the Lee County bar. John Stevens, father of Frank K: Stevens, the historian, was at one time a partner of Edward THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 297 Southwick. The son tells the story that his father was compelled to go to Springfield on a case pending before the Supreme Court. "Edward South- wick was of the party. Southwick was very dark. Southwick and Stevens were partners al the time, too, but when Mendota had been reached and the passengers had gone into the dining room for dinner, Stevens whispered in the car of the landlord that a separate table should be provided for Southwick. No specific reason was given, more than to nod and make a remark about his complexion. When Southwick attempted to take a chair with his companions, the landlord took him by the arm and very gently hinted that he had pro- vided a separate table for his colored guests. How the profanity did fly from Lawyer Southwick!" The biot hers Trucsdcll. B. H. and Abram K., were among the old-time lawyers of Lee County, of whom the younger generations could learn much as to thoroughness, soundness of logic, solidity of facts, brilliancy and force- fulness. It was a red-letter day for bench and bar when they were arrayed against each other. In 1856, James K. Edsall, who subsequently became attorney general of the State, came to Dixon from Kansas, where he had been a member of the Legislature. LEE COUNTY AS A SUPPLY OF CIRCUIT JUDGES It was in the judicial annals of the State, however, that Lee County has been unusually prominent. John V. Eustace became a member of the Legis- lature in 1856 and introduced a bill making a new judicial circuit, of which he became judge in the following year. He served until 1861, when Judge W. W. Ileaton was elected. When the law establishing Appellate Courts was passed Judge Heaton was appointed to that bench and became the first pre- siding judge of the Chicago district. He died in 1878, while in office, and John V. Eustace was elected to fill the vacancy. Judge Eustace died in office and John D. Crabtree, who succeeded him, was soon elevated to the Appellate bench of the Second district. He, too died on the bench in 1902, and Richard S. Ferrand, who also died while in judicial service, was succeeded by Harry Edwards, the incumbent. Thus it will be seen that Lee County has furnished a circuit judge since the year 1856. From the Lee County bar Solomon Hicks Bethea was made a judge of the United States District Court in Chicago. Sherwood Dixon, S. H. Bethea, Charles B. Morrison and William B. Sterling, all occupied the position of United States district attorney, the first three for the Northern District of Illinois, and the last named for the State of South Dakota. SHERWOOD DIXON, FOUNDER OF PROMINENT LAW FIRMS Sherwood Dixon, the grandson of John (Father) Dixon, and the son of James P. Dixon, was born in the town which retains the family name, and was long one of the leading lawyers of Northern Illinois. He and the firms with which he was identified were legal representatives of such corporations as the Illinois Central and North Western Railroad companies and the Illinois 298 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Northern Utilities Company. Sherwood Dixon commenced the study of law with William Barge, one of the strongest members of the bar in Northern Illi- nois, and entered practice in 1869 as junior member of the firm Eustace, Barge & Dixon. For three years, 1874-77, the firm practiced in Chicago, and in March, 1878, Mr. Dixon dissolved his connection with Barge & Dixon and formed a partnership with S. H. Bethea. The firm of Dixon & Bethea was succeeded by Morrison (Charles B.) & Bethea, Morrison, Bethea & Dixon (Henry S., the elder son) and Dixon & Dixon (George C, the younger son). There are few firms in the State which have supplied so much judicial and legal talent devoted to official public purposes as those which have had their origin in the activities of Sherwood Dixon. JOHN V. EUSTACE AND WILLIAM W. HEATON By an act of the General Assembly passed in 1839, the Sixth Circuit in- cluded the counties of Whiteside, Rock Island, Carroll, Stephenson, Winne- bago, Boone and Jo Daviess. In 1877, Whiteside was placed in the Thirteenth Circuit, but for twenty years was not represented on the judiciary. Two of the judges were especial favorites with the people of the lower Valley — John V. Eustace and William W. Heaton. Under the constitution of 1848, they were on the Twenty-second Circuit, Judge Eustace commissioned in 1857 and Judge Heaton in 1861. They were taken from the Dixon bar. Judge Heaton is described as having sat so regularly on the bench, year after year, that he seemed a judicial fixture. Heaton was "quiet, easy, genial, approachaWe. Judge Eustace was somewhat sterner, and carried to his position much of that military dignity which he found necessary as provost marshal at Dixon during the Civil war." Under the apportionment of 1897, the counties of Rock Island, Mercer, Whiteside and Henry composed the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, with Emery C. Graves, of Geneseo, William H. Gest, of Rock Island, and Frank R. Ramsay, of Morrison, as judges. Judge Graves was elected for his last term in 1921, Gest, in 1909, and Ramsay in 1915. In Whiteside County, two of the most conspicuous state's attorneys have been David McCartney, formerly of Fulton, later of Sterling, and Walter Stager, of Sterling. LAWYERS OF WHITESIDE AND HENRY COUNTIES The first lawyer of Whiteside County was Hugh Wallace, who came from Pennsylvania in 1837, and, although he had graduated in law, was obliged to farm the land which he had acquired in what is now West Sterling. He served several terms in the Legislature and for four years was register of the land office at Dixon. He was one of the founders of Wallacetown, or Sterling. One of Wallace's friends and fellow practitioners was B. C. Coblentz, popular and prominent in the early days. General Kirk was another pioneer lawyer and a Civil war officer of high standing. Miles S. Henry, a schoolmate of Stephen A. Douglas, a leading banker, railroad official and lawyer, was paymaster in the Union army. David McCartney first resided in Fulton, came to Sterling in 1865, and was state's attorney at the time of his death in 1888. James McCoy, who began the practice of the law at Fulton in 1840 was long the Nestor of THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 299 the Whiteside bar. He afterward moved to Sterling. Mr. McCoy was a presi- dential elector in 1868, a delegate to the constitutional convention in 1869, a trustee of the Illinois Soldiers' College, a public-spirited man and a good lawyer. Frank E. Andrews, who died at Rock Falls in 1907, passed most of his profes- sional life at Sterling, and was widely known as the chief promoter of the Hen- nepin Canal feeder as it was finally located. He was strong and clean in every sense of the word, and a great credit to the bar of Whiteside County. And there are others of like caliber and character, whose records mast fall in other pages. Henry County, in the lower reaches of the Rock River Valley, has produced several widely known lawyers, as well as judges. The first attorney to practice in the county was Samuel P. Brainard, who opened his office at Cambridge about. 1840. For several years he made "both ends meet" by splicing his meager legal income with whatever he could draw from his office as clerk of the Circuit Court. Jonas W. Olson, son of Rev. Olaf Olson, one of the founders of the Bishop Hill Colony, also practiced at Galva at an early day, and long afterward served as postmaster under Cleveland. George E. Waite came to Geneseo in 1856, was admitted to the bar a few years afterward, served two terms as county judge, was the city's first mayor, was a soldier of the Civil war and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1870. General John H. Howe came to Kewanee from New York and in 1855-60 served as judge of the Sixth Circuit. He went from Henry County in the Civil war as lieutenant colonel of the 120th Regiment and was twice promoted. In 1869 he was appointed chief justice of Wyoming Territory and is said to have presided over the first female jury ever impaneled in the history of the world. In 1872 he returned to Kewanee and soon afterward was appointed a commis- sioner to assist in adjusting the Mexican border troubles, and died at Laredo, Texas, in April, 1873, en route to the scene of the negotiations. THE NOTED BISHOP HILL MURDER A crime which created much commotion in the Lower Rock River Valley was the murder of Eric Janson, the founder of the Bishop Hill Colony of religion- ists, in Henry County. One John Root had fallen in love with a maiden of the colony. He married her, with the proviso that if he should desire to sever his connection with the colony he should not take his wife with him without her consent Root, however, determined to leave, and forced his wife to accompany him. When the flight was discovered by a sister of Mrs. Root, several of the colonists took their fleetest horses, and overtook the fleeing couple on the prairie. Although Root surrendered his wife temporarily, he soon spirited her away to t'hicago, but she was again brought back to Bishop Hill through the agency of some of her friends. Thoroughly incensed, the husband raised a mob to destroy the village, and the danger from that source was narrowly averted. But Root was determined to have his revenge, and on May 13, 1850, as Eric Janson was talking with his attorney in one of the rooms of the court house, appeared at the doorway, drew 7 his pistol and shot Janson dead. For this crime, Root was after- ward sentenced to a term in the State Penitentiary, but was pardoned by the governor before he had completed his term. 300 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY JUDGES AND LEADING LAWYERS OF ROCK ISLAND COUNTY Rock Island County has taken the part in upholding the high legal traditions of the Rock River Valley commensurate with its wealth and progress and the general intelligence of its people. The county was originally in the Fifth Judi- cial Circuit, later being transferred to the Sixth. In 1873 it was again placed in the Fifth, together with Henry and Mercer counties. Under the act of June 7, 1877, Rock Island, Hemy, Mercer, Warren, Henderson and Knox counties formed the Tenth Circuit, and since 1897 Rock Island, Mercer, Henry and Whiteside have constituted the Fourteenth. Charles J. Searle has served as a judge of the circuit since December, 1922. Judge Searle had been one of the leaders of the Rock Island bar since his admission to practice and his location there in 1889. He is a native of Arkansas, farmed and taught school in Kansas and graduated in law from the Iowa State University. After serving two terms as state's attorney of Rock Island County, he became the founder (in his official capacities) of the Western Illinois State Normal School, at Macomb, and after- ward served as one of the judges of the Illinois State Court of Claims, which has jurisdiction of all litigation directed against the State and its institutions. Judge Searle has been always classed as a progressive republican. JUDGE J. W. DRURY Among the attorneys of the Rock Island County bar who have passed away may be mentioned J. Wilson Drury, who was admitted to the bar in 1839 and began practice at Rock Island in that year. He invested in real estate while Rock Island was still the town of Stephenson and became wealthy irrespective of his professional income. He was first elected judge of the Circuit Court in 1856 and for nineteen years he served on the bench of the Appellate Court. At the close of his judicial term he formed a law partnership with John P. Cook, of Davenport, which continued for some years. He was engaged in much im- portant litigation, being attorney of the southwestern branch of the Rock Island railroad system for some years. That line ran to Kansas City, and Judge Drury s connection therewith caused him to move to Chicago. That city was his home until his retirement in 1894, when he returned to his farm on the Rock River, where he died a few years afterward, eighty-six years of age. Judge Drury was a personal friend of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, and at his request accepted the office of State elector in 1856, making speeches through- out Illinois for the Little Giant. He was especially active in behalf of Douglas at the Charleston convention to which he was also a delegate, and was altogether a man of sturdy character and real note. WILLIAM A. MEESE The judiciary and bar of Rock Island County have always been honored by some man like Judge Drury, whose character for breadth and strength places him far above the average. The late William A. Meese was of that caliber. Mr. Meese was a Wisconsin man of German parentage — a learned lawyer, a scholar of wide reading and accomplishments in the historical field, and a gentleman THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 301 of fine traits and warm heart. He enjoyed an extensive practice as a legal rep- resentative of large corporate interests in the lower Valley, and as a citizen of Moline is credited with giving his home city its great lock and harbor and with being one of its most influential promoters of library and educational institu- tions, lie was untiring in his efforts to preserve the historical records and land- marks of the Rock Island locality, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois State Historical Society, an associate editor of the Journal of the society, and a member of the Advisory Commission of the Illinois State His- torical Library. But when Mr. Meese passed from this life on February 9, 1920, it is doubtful if his broad influence for good was remembered with more grati- tude and admiration than in the matter thus described by his old friend and fellow worker. John II. Hauberg: "He took unusual interest in young attorneys, and a number of the prominent and successful lawyers of Rock Island County received their first coaching in the practice of their profession in Mr. Meese 's office. He had great compassion for the boy inclined to be delinquent, and, in the day when 'law was law, and crime was crime, whether it was taking a banana from some one's stand, or a wagon,' and there were no probation laws, he de- fended scores of boys when they were up for trial, never charging a cent for his services. He was very successful in clearing the boys and restoring them to the "straight and narrow path." Parents of incorrigible boys often brought their young recreants to Mr. Meese 's office, where the summons to the boy to come into his private office to receive a reprimand, as only Mr. Meese could give it, was something which could not be lightly treated and often made lasting impressions for good. THE MURDER OF COLONEL GEORGE R. DAVENPORT Rock Island County was the home of some of the most noted criminal lawyers in the Rock River Valley. In common with other "river towns," Rock Island and Moline were the scenes of much disorder and many personal altercations. The crime which rocked the Valley from head to foot in the early years of its history was the murder of Colonel George Davenport, on the 4th of July, 1845. The outrage was well planned by the Banditti and was their last notable achievement in the field of outlawry. The motive of the outlaws was robbery, which they reasoned could be readily a •eonip'ished, thinking every- one would be absent attending the great celebration of the Day at the town of Rock Island. But Colonel Davenport did not accompany the other mem- bers of his family to the festivities and the robbers found him at home alon°. He was then sixty-two years of age. By threats of death, the outlaws compelled the Colonel to open his safe from which they took about $700 in gold. Disap- pointed at the small amount of their plunder, they demanded more, and upon being refused they subjected him to such terrible tortures that he became uncon- scious. Fearing that they had killed their victim they fled with whatever of value they could find. A Mr. Cole, of Moline, with two other men, were soon thereafter passing down the Mississippi River in a skiff. They heard a cry for help coming from the house on the island, and going ashore found Colonel Davenport in great agi ny from the treatment he had received. Leaving his two companions to care 302 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY for him, Mr. Cole hastened for Dr. Brown, who was with a picnic party on the island not far away and came at once and was soon joined by Dr. Patrick Gregg. All that was possible was done for the injured man, but he died between nine and ten o'clock that night. The brutal murder of Colonel Davenport stirred the country near and far. Edward Bonney, a noted detective of that day, had charge of the hunt for the murderers and through him they were finally apprehended, at scattered points in Illinois, Indiana, "Wisconsin and Ohio. The criminals were Granville Young, John and Aaron Long, Robert Birch, William II. and George G. Redden, and John Baxter. Baxter had formerly worked for Colonel Davenport and gave to the others the description of the interior of the Davenport home. THREE OF THE OUTLAWS PUBLICLY HUNG Young and the two Longs were tried at the special October term of the Cir- cuit Court, Judge Thomas C. Browne, presiding. Thomas J. Turner, state's attor- ney, assisted by Joseph Knox, represented the prosecution, and the Court ap- pointed Augustus Cornwell, Ira 0. Wilkinson, S. Stephen Guyer and Lewis W. Thompson to defend the prisoners. The jury remained out only fifteen minutes and returned a verdict of guilty. On October 11th, the Court sentenced the three on trial to be executed on the 29th of October, 1845, and also ordered that the body of John Long be delivered to Dr. Patrick Gregg, after execution; that of Aaron Long, to Dr. Egbert S. Barrows, and that of Granville Young to Dr. Reuben Knox. On the day of the execution the scaffold, which stood on a plot of ground bounded by Third and Fourth Avenues and Fourteenth Street, was guarded by fifty special deputies, as it was feared an attempt at rescue would be made by the gang of which these men were members. This had been threat- ened and was expected by the prisoners. It did not materialize, however, and the hanging of the three occurred according to schedule before a large gathering of people from the country for miles around, as the execution was public. As to the others arrested for the murder, Robert Birch escaped confinement and was never recaptured; John Baxter w T as twice sentenced, once to be hung and the second time to the penitentiary for life, but was finally pardoned ; William Reddin pleaded guilty and was sent to the penitentiary for one year and one week while George G. Reddin was found "not guilty" and discharged. IRA O. WILKINSON Ira 0. Wilkinson, senior counsel for those charged with the murder of Colonel Davenport, was one of the best known lawyers in the lower Rock River Valley, or at least became such in after years. Even in this trial, which was his first important case in Northern Illinois, he handled an almost hopeless situa- tion with great legal skill. A Virginian by birth, in the early '30s he was in partnership with Richard Yates at Jacksonville, and in 1843 located in Jack- sonville. He became probate judge of Rock Island County in 1847 and served on the Circuit bench in 1849-67. His partner, George W. Pleasants, succeeded him to the Sixth Circuit bench, and afterward served two terms in the Appellate Court, of the Second District. During the third term of Judge Pleasants, Judge Through the courtesy of tin- Bock Islaiul Arsenal) HOME OF COLONEL GEORGE DAVENPORT Indian Agent, trailer and pioneer settler. Murdered here July 4, 1845. Built in 1833; restored in 1906. 304 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Wilkinson moved to Chicago, where he resumed practice. The latter had fir^t come into prominence from his connection with the Davenport case in 1845. FIRST PRIVATE EXECUTION IN ROCK ISLAND COUNTY In 1854 and 1856, there were two more public executions in Rock Island, both the criminals being wife-killers. The futility of public executions as a deter- rent to the commission of crimes involving the taking of human life had long been discussed before the authorities performed the first private execution in Rock Island, in March, 1883. If capital punishment is to be, it has long since been ordained that its unfortunate victims shall not be made public spectacles. OTHER CASES AND CRIMES Robert W. Olmstead, formerly circuit judge and a well known practitioner of Rock Island, writes as follows, December 14, 1925, in regard to the subject matter relating to his section of the Valley: "Your Rock Island County por- tion is all right as far as it goes. As to subject matter, you have the old story of the murder of Colonel Davenport, but a number of things have happened, which, if looked into, would make wonderful stories. For instance, along about 1899, the removal of the Woodman office from Fulton to Rock Island involved litigation and a riot at Fulton when the Rock Island contingent went to bring the books forcibly to this city. ' ' The death knell of organized crime in the city of Rock Island is now being sounded in a trial at Galesburg on a change of venue, wherein John Looney is charged with the death of William Gabel. This is not a new story, for it was alive in 1915 when I was defeated for renomination as circuit judge. The Banditti of the Prairies is a great story involving more murders, possibly, but only possibly, but for a slimy snake that had a community by the throat, I do not think it in any way exceeded the story that is now coming to an end. "As to persons, of course, there have been a number of able practitioners, not very prominent politically. William Jackson died recently at the age of ninety-one years and an examination of the Rock Island Argus files of recent date would indicate that probably he ought to be included. ' ' TRIALS OF ROCK ISLAND VICE GANG Among the most famous trials of late years in the Rock River Valley were those of John Looney, former editor of the Rock Island News, and his associates. Early in the summer of 1922 the people of the county started a drive for funds to finance an investigation by the attorney-general of vice conditions in Rock Island. The investigations were started and a detective agency was hired by the state to assist in the survey. Federal agents also were asked to assist and Roy Goss, a prohibition agent, started an investigation of liquor conditions there. An active investigation by Attorney-General Edward J. Brundage was started in Rock Island in October, 1922, after the murder of Connor Looney, John Looney 's son, on October 6. Assistant Attorney-General Charles W. Had- ley was assigned to the case and in January, 1923, he was joined by Senator tup: rock river valley 305 James J. Barbour. Attorney-General Oscar E. Carlstrom continued the investi- gation after Mr. Brundage lei't the office and on August 18 indictments were returned. Looney was arrested in New Mexico in November, 1923, and was brought to Illinois to face charges of conspiracy brought against him in Rock Island during the summer. lie was convicted and sentenced to from one to five years in the penitentiary. In the general cleanup four men were convicted of the murder of Looney 's son, Connor. George Butler was given twenty years in the penitentiary and Bill Burns, George Holtsapple and Dan Drost were given fourteen years each. After Looney had been convicted on the conspiracy charge Assistant Attor- ney-General Hadley and Senator Barbour started action against Looney on the indictment charging him with the murder of William Gabel, a saloon keeper, who had disclosed the operations of the vice-ring of which Looney was the alleged head. Looney took a change of venue, and the case was sent to the Cir- cuit court of Knox County. Proceedings were finally started on November 23, 1925, and a month afterward Looney was sentenced to fourteen years in State's Prison. Indicted with Looney were eight of his associates, seven of whom testified that they had operated saloons and gambling and disorderly houses, paying tribute to Looney for the privilege. As intimated by Judge Olmstead, the trial of the Banditti of the Prairies is a great story in the criminal history but does not in any way exceed the story of the Rock Island Banditti of today — or, perchance, yesterday. CHAPTER XIII EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS THE FOUNDATION OF THE WISCONSIN SYSTEM ITS STATE UNIVERSITY — FIRST SCHOOLS IN MADISON EDUCATION IN JEFFERSON, FORT ATKINSON AND WATER- TOWN THE NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE AND JEFFERSON INSTITUTE — BEAVER DAM, WAUPUN AND OTHER DODGE COUNTY CITIES AND TOWNS JANESVILLE AND BELOIT AS EDUCATIONAL CENTERS OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN FREE ACADEMY AND WIS- CONSIN SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AT JANESVILLE — BELOIT COLLEGE AND THE ROCKFORD FEMALE SEMINARY ROCKFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN THE ILLINOIS SCHOOL FUNDS AND SYSTEM OF FREE SCHOOLS NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOREMOST IN FOUNDING IT THE SCHOOLS OF ROCKFORD FIRST CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY THE PIONEER SCHOOLS OF BELVIDERE — NEW- TON ACADEMY WOMEN SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS FREEPORT AND STEPH- ENSON COUNTY INSTITUTIONS HISTORY OF THE ROCK RrVER SEMINARY AND MOUNT MORRIS COLLEGE EARLY PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF OGLE COUNTY FntST TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS IN LEE COUNTY DIXON COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE AND LEE CENTER ACADEMY WHITESIDE COUNTY TEACHERS AND INSTITUTES HENRY COUNTY AND ITS COLONIES. — EARLY EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN MOLINE AND ROCK ISLAND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS AUGUSTANA COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ROCK ISLAND. There is some atmosphere about the beautiful and fertile stretches of the Rock River, with its numerous tributary streams — and all its bright and lively waters — that has bred, drawn and nourished a vital and cultured race of men and women. The charming and the substantial are both elements of the parent valley of Southeastern Wisconsin and Northwestern Illinois and its minor offshoots east and west ; and the dwellers in that bright, nourishing and stimu- lating country are as versatile, strong, enterprising and clean as if they had drawn these attributes from the soil of their land. Whether they live under the laws of Wisconsin or Illinois, they have been independent and fearless workers in the fields of law, education and religious thought. Especially has the Upper Valley brought forth numerous women of educational, literary and moral initiative and performance, who have done much to found the schools and colleges and to promote the many moral and spiritual movements which have set high the Rock River country in the annals of the most worthy ac- complishments of the earth. Beloit, Rockford, Mount Morris and Augustana colleges stand secure among the fine, good and progressive institutions of the Rock River Valley — noteworthy examples of what is being accomplished for the young men and women of the country by a wise combination of intellectual, moral and spiritual education. There is no doubt that the wonderful human 306 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 307 stock which has heen produced by the racial melting pot in this section of the country owes its indissoluble nature largely to such institutions of character- building. THE FOUNDATION OF THE WISCONSIN SYSTEM If an>' region in the United States has attempted to live up to the educa- tional preamble of the Northwest Ordinance more faithfully than the Rock River Valley it is unknown to the writer, who quotes the significant words, thus: "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good govern- ment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged." The succeeding provision donated the sixteenth sec- tion in each township to the support of public schools, and the fund thus pro- vided has been the greatest incentive to the founding of a democratic system of education in the Northwest. As this vast region was carved into states, congress passed over this School Section to the new commonwealths. When Wisconsin entered the Union in 1848, she received not only the School Section, but an additional tract of half a million acres. A part of this tract was taken from the unsold lands of the Rock River Canal Grant, amounting to 13,663 acres, and the remainder was selected by agents of the State to make up the full 500,000 acres. This tract, with the 966,731 acres covering the school sec- tions of the State and the 238,891 acres which accrued from the "forfeited mortgage lands" under a statute of 1849, brought the common school fund of Wisconsin to a total of 1,705,622 acres. The State University fund was inherited from a territorial land grant, which, with additions from Congress, amounted in 1854 to nearly 92,000 acres. The Morrill act of 1862 granted Wisconsin 240,000 acres to found an Agricultural College, and this fund afterward became an endowment for the University of Wisconsin. The fund for the creation and support of the Normal Schools of Wisconsin commenced to be formed in 1851 from the sales of the swamp lands. In 1857, the Legislature passed an act "for the encouragement of academies and normal schools." This law set apart for the purposes specified in its title one-fourth of the gross proceeds of the swamp lands granted to Wisconsin in 1850, and provided for a Board of Normal School Regents to distribute the income to colleges and academies which organized departments for the training of teachers. By an act passed in 1865, one-half of the swamp land fund was to be denom- inated the "normal school fund," and the income of this fund was to be ap- plied ta the establishment and support of normal schools, provided that 25 per cent of this income would be annually transferred to the school fund in- come, until the annual income of the common school fund reached the sum of $200,000. This is no place to review the disgraceful squandering of these land funds provided for the founding and continuation of a grand system of education to be enjoyed by high and low, rich and poor. Although the productive school fund of Wisconsin had reached to more than $7,300,000 in 1924, experts who have made a careful study of the various educational funds set aside by the General and the State governments have declared that if proper business meth- Vol. 1—20 308 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ods had been applied in the sale of the lands and the care of the funds, the aggregate of the capital applicable to the purposes of public education would have amounted to $50,000,000. THE STATE UNIVERSITY At the head of the State's great educational system is the University, and around its seat at Madison are the reservoir waters of one of the distinctive valleys of the Rock River. No more noble site for a university could be con- ceived than the region of Southern Wisconsin gemmed by the Four Lakes, and from its brilliant and learned faculty has lately been drafted a member to grace the presidency of the University of Chicago. The founding and ex- pansion of the State University cover a subject of such magnitude and intricacy that the details are reserved for the history of Dane County and its noteworthy institutions. This chapter is limited to a sweeping picture of the establish- ment of schools, colleges and universities in the Rock River Valley, with the moral and religious forces and institutions which have made its people what they are. Residents of the Valley who are identified prominently with the educational system of the State are as follows : John Callahan, state super- intendent of public instruction and one of the regents ex-officio of the University, Madison; Edward A. Birge, president of the Board of University Regents, also of Madison ; Michael B. Olbrich, a Madison attorney, and Victor P. Rich- ardson, a manufacturer of Janesville, other members of the Board ; Mrs. Charles R. Carpenter and George P. Hambrecht, of Madison, members of the Board of University Visitors; State Superintendent Callahan and Industrial Com- missioner L. A. Tarrell, ex-officio members of the State Board of Vocational Education, Madison ; State Superintendent Callahan and State Treasurer Sol Levitan, members of the State Board of Normal Regents, Madison, with Wil- liam Kittle, as its secretary. During the school year 1923-24, more than $58,800,000 was expended in Wisconsin in support of the public schools, and $6,280,000 in the maintenance of the State University, exclusive of revolving funds. FIRST SCHOOLS IN MADISON Several months after the old capitol buildings were erected near Lake Monona, about a year before Dane County was organized and while it was still a part of Iowa County, A. A. Bird, one of the settlers on the site of Madison employed Miss Louisa Brayton, of Aztalan, a settlement in what is now Dodge .County, to come to the rising town of the Four Lakes region and teach the children of his family the elements of learning. She came and the small class which she formed took its place in the little community as the first school in that locality. In 1841, two years after Dane County was created, the taxpayers made application to the school commissioners to set off Township 7, Range 9 east, as District No. 1. It was erected soon after, and also so enlarged as to include Township 8. In the following year, the local school board of Madison sanctioned the establishment of a select female academy, and in 1855 the vil- lage was incorporated and a separate school district formed to cover its ter- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 309 ritory. As the Wisconsin Stale University had been founded seven years be- fore. .Madison became at once the recognized educational center of tbe common- wealth. EDUCATION IN JEFFERSON, FORT ATKINSON AND WATERTOWN Largely through the enterprise of leading Milwaukee citizens, Watertown, Hebron, Fort Atkinson and Aztalan were founded in 1836, and in the same year Jefferson County was set off from Milwaukee. Jefferson and Lake Mills sprung up about the same time, so that the county east of Dane had a number of flourishing settlements while Madison and Dane County were scarcely on the map. Jefferson, Fort Atkinson and Watertown all organized private schools soon after they were settled. In the spring of 1837 the first school at Fort Atkinson was opened in a log cabin on the north side of the Crawfish River by Jane Crane. Charles Rockwell erected the first distinctive schoolhouse, in 1844. although religious meetings were held therein quite often. Many of the private schools in Fort Atkinson, at an early day, were conducted in the base- ment of the old Congregational church, organized in 1841. Watertown also established its schools supported by private subscription in the late '30s, and old School District No. 1 was well supported by the tax- payers. A. Hoffman's blacksmith and wagon shop was a favorite meeting place for the "legal voters*' to discuss and organize school matters. In 1856, its public schools were organized under the Union system and placed under the supervision of a Board of Education. THE NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE AND JEFFERSON INSTITUTE The Lutherans were strong, prosperous and enterprising in Watertown, and in 1864 their Wisconsin synod erected a large brick structure on the east side of the city and opened it in September of that year as the Northwestern Uni- versity. Its first dormitory, built in 1867, was burned in 1874 and a new one was soon afterward erected. Other buildings have since been erected and the name of the institution changed to the Northwestern College to avoid mis- understanding caused by the similarity of the title borne by the Northwestern University, of Evanston and Chicago, Illinois. The Northwestern College of Illinois is located at Naperville, and is under the control of the Evangelical Association of Lutherans. The first schools in the county seat of Jefferson County were established in 1839 and 1840, but for more than a dozen years after the Civil war it was the seat of an educational institute founded by Universalists. In April, 1866, was founded what was known as the Jefferson Institute. In June of that year the Universalists of Wisconsin held a convention at Columbus and took over the enterprise under the name of the Jefferson Liberal Institute. A build- ing was completed, but the enterprise did not prosper and in the spring of 1879 the plant and grounds were purchased by the City of Jefferson and trans- formed into a public school. 310 THE EOCK RIVER VALLEY BEAVER DAM, WAUPUN AND OTHER DODGE COUNTY CITIES About one-third of Watertown laps over from Jefferson County into Dodge, and Waupun is divided between Fond du Lac and Dodge counties. Schools were founded early at Watertown and Fox Lake, the latter in the northwestern part of Dodge County. In 1842, the handful of citizens at Beaver Dam met at the house of J. P. Brower and chose a site for their first schoolhouse a short distance east of Spring Creek; but "things came up" and it was four years before it was finished. In 1844, when Charles Cleveland opened the first school of Waupun in a small wooden building in the five-year-old settle- ment, it was located in District No. 1 ; which comprised the present City of Waupun in both Dodge and Fond du Lac counties, and a portion of the town of Chester in Dodge County. The original schoolhouse was replaced by a better one in 1847. In 1860, the district was divided and the South and North Ward schools in Waupun were erected. Horieon and Juneau were of later settlement, but maintained the superior standard of the county schools. JANESVILLE AND BELOIT AS EDUCATIONAL CENTERS Janesville and Beloit have always been intellectual and educational centers of Southern Wisconsin and the Upper Rock River Valley. Janesville was made the seat of justice of Rock County in 1837 and in 1843, after a number of private schools had been in action for several years, chartered a free academy under the laws of the Territory. It was one of the first institutions of higher learning in Wisconsin, and in 1844 her citizens provided a substantial stone building for its operations. At that time there were less than 100 children of school age in the place. The Academy building stood on the site of Janes- ville 's Central school. Wisconsin's first benevolent institution In the fall of 1849, there was established at Janesville the first benevolent institution founded by the State of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin School for the Blind was organized August 27, 1849, under private management, its initial subscription being $430. In the following February, the State Legislature in- corporated the school as its first benevolent institution. beloit college The Town of Beloit, which was chartered by the Territorial Legislature in 1842, was early designated as one of the leading college centers of Wisconsin, and how it became the headquarters of a movement which resulted in the eventual founding of two colleges — one in Wisconsin and the other in Illinois — is thus told in the "History of Winnebago County," by Charles A. Church: "As early as 1843, there was some discussion of the need of a college for the upper Rock River Valley. A general convention of the churches of the North- west was held at Cleveland, Ohio, in June, 1844, at which education received much attention. It was decided that a college and a female seminary should THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 311 be founded in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, respectively. A resolution was adopted that the 'exigencies of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois require that those sections should unite in establishing a college and female seminary of the highest order — one in Wisconsin, near to Illinois, and one in Illinois, near to Wisconsin.' The delegates, upon their return, called a con- vention at Beloit in August, 1844. Three subsequent conventions were held at Beloit, because it was believed from the first that the college should be located at that place. The resolution of the first convention, affirming the need of both college and seminary, was reaffirmed in these subsequent con- ventions, representing especially the Presbyterian and Congregational ministry and churches in all the region. The union of these two churches in this move- ment may be attributed to the fact that each was weak as it stood alone and only in union was there strength. At the fourth convention, held at Beloit in October, 1845, that city was selected as the seat of the college and a Board of Trustees was elected, to whom was submitted the development of both in- stitutions. LTpon the original board was Rev. Aratus Kent and Hon. Wait Talcott. The charter for Beloit College was approved by the governor of the Territory of Wisconsin, February 2, 1846. Middle college, the first building, was begun in the autumn of that year. 'Then began the discussion of a site for the seminary. Rockton and Rock- ford were rivals, and Rockford was given the preference. A call was issued for a meeting at the Methodist church, on Monday evening, November 3, 1845, to consider the location of the seminary. At this meeting it was resolved to attempt to raise the sum prescribed by the Beloit trustees as necessary, about $3,500, and a committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions. Citizens pledged the required amount and the Forum of December 3d mentions, in a sketch of the city, that the trustees of Beloit College located the seminary at Rockford. A charter was granted February 25, 1847, to the following gentlemen as in- corporators : Aratus Kent, D. Clary, S. Peet, F. Bascom, C. Waterbury, S. D. Stevens, A. L. Chapin, R. M. Pearson, G. W. Wilcox, A. Raymond, C. M. Goodsell, E. H. Potter, L. G. Fisher, Wait Talcott, Charles S. Hempstead and Samuel Hinman. These same gentlemen were the incorporators of Beloit Col- lege. Disasters affecting the business interests of the village prevented the fulfillment of the pledges which had been made and delayed the enterprise for a time, but it was never abandoned." ROCKFORD FEMALE SEMINARY AND COLLEGE FOR WOMEN From the time that Anna P. Sill established her preparatory school at Rock- ford under the name of the Rockford Female Seminary, the Illinois institution commenced to be weaned from its mother, Beloit College. That was in June, l s 4f>, and in 1851 the Board of Trustees of Beloit College formally recognized it as the preparatory department of the Rockford Female Seminary. Recita- tions were conducted in the old courthouse building. In 1850, largely through the labors and generosity of Charles H. Spafford, grounds had been purchased for the foundation of the seminary authorized by the Beloit College charter. The first building was completed in 1852, when the seminary passed into the control of a separate Board of Trustees, who appointed Miss Sill as principal 312 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of the institution. After 1852, therefore, the seminary was an independent Illinois institution. In June, 1891, it was decided to discontinue the seminary course and the name of the institution was changed to Rockford College, more distinctively known as the Rockford College for Women. The details of the development of both Beloit and Rockford colleges, so vital to the higher growth of the Rock River Valley, will be given in the county histories of Rock and Winnebago. Returning to the educational survey of the Beloit region, it may be noted that the old districts, Nos. 1 and 2, were abolished in the fall of 1849 ; Union District No. 1 of Beloit was then formed, but that was soon discontinued and School District No. 2 was formed west of the river. The citizens of Beloit were very keen about school matters in those days (as they have been, since), and in December, 1849, appointed a committee to recommend to the Legis- lature that money be loaned to the district to build a new schoolhouse instead of donating it to railroads. The result was the completion of a good school- house at a cost of some $4,000 ; the sale of the old one brought $355. The first school in Beloit was taught in 1838 by John Burroughs, the noted naturalist and author and was opened in the kitchen of the Rock River House. THE ILLINOIS SCHOOL FUNDS Illinois has various funds upon which to draw for the support of her pub- lic schools, seminaries, colleges, normal schools and University. The Township fund for the support of the public schools is by far the largest of them all. As is well known, it is derived from the munificent donation from Congress of the sixteenth section of every township. The swamp land fund is distributed to the different counties by the Legislature. The school fund proper consists of three per cent of the net proceeds from the public land sales, one-sixth part excepted. This is known as the Three Per Cent Fund, or the School Fund Proper. The College Fund consists of one-sixth of three per cent of the sales of public lands in the State. There are also University, Seminary and Surplus Revenue funds. The last-named was created by Congress by an act which deposited with the states, in propor- tion to their representation in that body, the money that had accumulated in the national treasury, mainly from the sale of public lands. More than a third of this fund was expended in internal improvements, and the remainder was made a part of the common school fund of the State. ILLINOIS SYSTEM OF FREE SCHOOLS The Illinois system of free schools dates from 1855 and its foundation was laid by Ninian W. Edwards, son of the Governor, who had long been a public man of State affairs. In February, 1854, Governor Joel A. Matteson appointed him the first superintendent of public instruction, separating his functions from those formerly performed by the secretary of state. A year thereafter, under legislative instructions, Mr. Edwards reported a bill to the General As- sembly embodying a system of free education for all the children of the State. It became a law on the 15th of February, 1855. According to its provisions, THE ROCK EtlVEB V ALLEY 313 for State purposes the school tax was fixed at two mills on the $100. To this was added the interest from the permanent school fund. A free school was required to be maintained for at least six months in each year, and it was made imperative upon the directors of every school district to levy the neces- sary tax. Edwards had recommended the use of the township as the unit for school purposes, the township directors to combine in a county convention to elect a county superintendent. The Legislature, however, retained the dis- trict system. In fact, as amended by the General Assembly, the author of the original bill severely criticised it as containing many obscure and unjust features, some of which were afterward remedied. NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOREMOST IN FOUNDING IT Despite its drawbacks, the law was a great boon to those who had long been advocates of a system of popular education based on local taxation. Its passage was doubtful on account of the unequal distribution of wealth, and consequent comparative burdens of taxation required to found and maintain such a system under State administration. In the "Centennial History of Illinois," Northern Illinois is thus given credit for the final passage of the Edwards bill, as amended by the General Assembly. "The law was passed," comments that authority, "by the representatives of Northern Illinois, in spite of opposition from most of Egypt, St. Clair County, however, unanimously supported the proposition because of the popularity of education among the Germans there, led by men like George Bunsen, school commissioner of St. Clair County, who was later appointed a member of the first State School Board. The wealthier northern counties of the State wanted education badly enough to pay more than their share for it; they proved this to the south by arrang- ing the distribution of the two mill tax on the compound basis of population and territory — two-thirds according to the school children and one-third ac- cording to the number of townships. Some of the northern counties received less than half of what they contributed, while southern counties doubled their contributions. This consideration, reenforced by the complaints of northern districts of the unfair distribution of the State funds, reconciled many parts of Egypt to the law, and the school fever began to carry all before it." THE SCHOOLS OF ROCKFORD No county of Northern Illinois was more earnest and steadfast in the pro- motion of the new public school system than Winnebago. Rockford organized as a city in 1852 and in 1854 its Council was delegated full power over the local schools. In June, 1855, the City Council passed its first school ordinance under the new school law. Under it, the city was divided into East and West Side districts, designated Nos. 1 and 2. A Board of School Inspectors was appointed consisting of George Haskell, A. S. Miller and Jason Marsh — the last named giving his name to the Marsh school. In December, the board voted to purchase of A. W. Freeman his lease of the basement of the First Baptist Church for a school in District No. 2. Mr. Freeman was employed to teach at $800 per year. At the same time, H. Sabin was engaged for Dis- 314 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY trict No. 1 and the old courthouse on the East Side was leased. The Council had provided by ordinance for a school agent for each district whose acts were to be approved by that body, and the present sites of the Adams and Lincoln schools were purchased. On August 14, 1857, occurred the formal dedication of the two union school buildings. Previous to that time, Rockford had no schoolhouse of its own, and the completion of the buildings named marked the establishment of the local public school system. Of late years no one reform in the public school system has done more for the children of the rural districts than that of Consolidation, by which sections of limited means are enabled to combine their resources for the com- mon good of a designated area. Winnebago County has the oldest consolidated school in Illinois. In view of that fact, the details of its origin are quoted from an account prepared by a local historian, to this effect: "In April, 1903, Districts 90, 91 and 93 of Seward Township were, on petition, con- solidated by the township trustees. A few days later, by a vote of 38 to 15, the people voted to bond the new district for $7,000 for ten years' time, at four per cent, to erect a modern school building. The taxpayers also author- ized the directors, by a vote of 47 to 11, to purchase a central site of three and six-tenths acres. The price paid was $1,000. The building was dedicated January 30, 1904, and the event marked the close of a struggle of five years to give the children of the township better educational advantages. A notable programme was presented, which included addresses by the late Alfred Bay- less, State superintendent of public instruction ; Dr. John W. Cook, president of the State Normal School, at De Kalb; O. J. Kern, county superintendent of schools ; and presentation of a flag by Hon. Laurence McDonald. The school was opened February 1, 1904, with an attendance of 103." PIONEER SCHOOLS OF BELVIDERE Boone County, so closely associated with Winnebago in politics and ter- ritory, was also up and doing in all educational matters, public and private. The Belvidere district, which for some time hung in the balance between the two counties, was never lukewarm in its support of educational enterprises. The first schools taught were private or family schools, and among the earliest of the teachers connected with them was Miss Harriet King, daughter of Dr. John S. King, the eminent pioneer Baptist divine. Another of the pioneer teachers was Miss Rebecca Loop, a sister of Mrs. John K. Towner, who taught a school in the winter of 1836-37 at the Towner family residence on the south side of the Kishwaukee. NEWTON ACADEMY For fifteen or sixteen years, Belvidere was the seat of Newton Academy, which earned quite a name as an educational institution of the uj>per Rock River Valley. About 1837, a stock company was formed to found such an institution, and in 1838 Dr. King and others secured as its site a tract ad- joining the courthouse square. The academy building was opened to pupils and the enterprise was entrusted to several principals until in August, 1843, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 315 it came into possession of Arthur B. Fuller, brother of the famous Margaret Fuller, who did her full share to make the Rock River Valley noted for its educational and literary atmosphere. Mr. Fuller owned and operated the New- ton Academy for about two years, after which it was jointly occupied for school and religious purposes. First a Unitarian and then a Baptist Society held forth in it. It finally lost its distinctive character as an academy, and the property was gradually transformed into a residential estate. The year 1852 is given as the date when Newton Academy ended its life as an educa- tional concern. There were other select schools in Belvidere. The public school era com- menced in 1842, and since 1854, when the stone part of the public school building in the courthouse square was completed, the free system was well established in that section. WOMEN SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS In the early 70s, Boone and Winnebago counties were acknowledged leaders in the advancement of women executives in the free school system of the State. In November, 1873, ten ladies of Illinois were elected county superintendents of schools. In December of the following year, Mrs. Mary E. Crary was elected to the position in Boone County. At a meeting of the State Association of County Superintendents held in Chicago, Mrs. Crary, as well as Mrs. Mary S. Carpenter, of Winnebago County, was selected from the five lady super- intendents to read papers and engage in the general discussion before the con- vention. Mrs. Crary had been educated at Rockford Seminary and Vassar Col- lege (N. Y.), and, although still a young woman, had taught for a number of years at Belvidere, before the school authorities decided to try what they frankly admitted was "an experiment." In the case of Mrs. Crary, and others of her sex, the experiment met with pronounced success. FREEPORT AND STEPHENSON COUNTY INSTITUTIONS Stephenson County, west of Winnebago, was a little out of the main-traveled route of the Rock River Valley and was not organized until 1837, two years after its first permanent settlers had made that region their home. Soon after the county got under way as an independent political body, Nelson Martin opened the first school in his log house near the bank of the Pecatonica River. The tired housewife of William Baker, the ferryman, had already christened the little settlement, Free Port. The public schools of Freeport were brought under the jurisdiction of its Board of Education and graded in 1851, and a Union school completed in the following year. High school courses were also offered in 1852. The building which housed the first Freeport pupils outside of private residences was known as the Old Red School, and performed its homely functions until the Union school was built. Ogle County is not only prominent in the history of the Rock River Val- ley, as a popular educational center of early establishment, but the scene of the founding of an institution of higher learning, permeated by a strong cur- 316 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY rent of morality and religion along which have been borne into the world of thought and affairs some of the most widely known characters of the nation. Rock River Seminary and its child, Mount Morris College, have become known as widespread influences for high and broad growth. The first school in the county to become established in a home of its own was that known as the LaFayette Grove school, taught in the winter of 1836 by Chloe J. Benedict. This log house with a dirt floor was also used by some neighborhood Methodists for a meeting place. The building was soon burned to the ground by outlaws, who carefully carried out of doors all the books, papers, slates, pens and pencils used in the operation of Miss Benedict's school, thus demonstrating that the opposition of the bandits was directed against religion* rather than secular education. Notwithstanding which, the school mistress was married, within a few years, to Rev. Barton H. Cartwright, one of the widely known missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Not long after the LaFayette Grove school was opened, the first schoolhouse was built at Byron and its pupils taught by Miss Lydia A. Weldon. Years afterward, an academy was also started at that place, but could not bear up under its financial burdens and its building Avas worked into the structure of the district school. The first building erected on the town plat of Oregon was used as a school- house in the winter of 1837. Two years later, a building was erected specially for that purpose, Phelps' sawmill on Pine Creek supplying the boards for the body of the house. ROCK RIVER SEMINARY AND MOUNT MORRIS COLLEGE A colony of men and women from Maryland brought the seeds of education to Mount Morris Township from which good influences have been germinating ever since they came in 1837. The advance agents of this band of intelligent, practical and high-minded colonists were Samuel M. Hitt and Captain Nathaniel Swingley who had located their claims the previous summer. Rev. Thomas S. Hitt, a Methodist minister, was attracted to the Mount Morris locality by the favorable reports of his brother, the 'Squire (Samuel M.), and arrived at that locality with his wife and children, in September, 1837. There he became the founder of a widely known and prominent family. Both that year, and the next, there were material accessions to the membership of the Maryland colony. In the spring of 1838, 'Squire Hitt and Captain Swingley returned East for their families, and with them came other entire households, many of them remaining in the vicinity. Until the locality was christened, the settlement was called the Maryland Colony. When the Methodist Annual Conference met at Jacksonville in 1838 it ap- proved the selection of Mount Morris as the site for the projected educational institution in Northern Illinois. A fund of $8,000 and a tract of 480 acres had been donated for the purpose, and a building committee was appointed composed of Rev. Samuel M. Hitt, Nathaniel Swingley and C. Burr Artz. The erection of the first building for the Rock River Seminary was awarded to James B. McCoy, and when its cornerstone was laid July 4, 1839, the people who attended the ceremonies accompanying it all but drained the Rock River THE ROCK RIVEB VALLKY 317 Valley. The exercises were conducted by the Rev. Thomas Hitt, who was considered creator of the infant seminary; and it was the son of the founder, Robert R. Hitt, who enjoyed the early period of his education at Rock River Seminary and, as it was about to fall into dissolution, purchased the property and revived the institution as an educational force and established it as Mount Morris College in 1879. Afterward, for twenty-four years he represent: d the Ninth Illinois District in Congress, and was in public service at the time of his death in 1906. Besides Mr. Hitt, there may be mentioned as students and graduates of the Rock River Seminary, Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, Gen. John A. Rawlins, Gov. John L. Beveridge, Sen. Shelby M. Cullom, James H. Beverage, the Farwell brothers, George W. Curtis, Judge James H. Cartwright, William A. Meese and a score of other prominent men. The first school at Mount Morris was taught in a log cabin half a mile west of the site of the village in a grove on the farm owned by 'Squire Samuel M. Hitt. The teacher was A. Quimbey Allen, who came with the Maryland Colony at the request of Messrs. Hitt and Swingley for the special purpose of founding an educational institution in the Far West. Soon after the arrival of most of the colonists the school was opened with twenty-six pupils and was called the Pine Creek Grammar School. When the cornerstone of the Rock River Seminary was laid, Mr. Allen's pupils attended the ceremonies in a body, and many of them became pupils in that institution. Afterward the Pine Creek Grammar School was conducted as the Primary Department of the seminary, but was discontinued in 1843, and private schools maintained for the children of the village. In 1851, a new public school building was erected, in which Mr. Allen was one of the teachers. FIRST TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS IN LEE COUNTY In Lee County, for many years, the center of educational interest was Dixon. Regarding the formative period of the local schools, it is said by Frank E. Stevens — and he is good authority — that "John K. Robison, later of Melugin's Grove, was the first school teacher in Lee County, and a Miss Butler, who came over from Bureau County, was the next. Both tutored the children of Mr. Dixon, .Mr. Robison in 1833 and Miss Butler, later. For a time, it was the custom of the Dixons to send their children up to the Kelloggs in Buffalo Grove to be tutored, and then, in turn, the Kellogg children would be sent to the Dixon house. The children of the two families thus were tutored together. "In the year 1837, a schoolhouse was built on the lot just east of Mrs. P. P. Starin's residence, southeast corner of Fourth Street and Crawford Avenue. The building was paid for by private subscriptions from the families then living there. The building was a frame one-story, twenty by thirty feet, and later was moved to the lot on the southwest corner of Ottawa Avenue and the alley known as Truman Court, running east and west between First and Sec- ond streets. In the latter location it was used later as courthouse, town hall, meeting house, etc. "In 1838, H. Bicknell taught his first school until about the summer vaca- tion of 1840. During the year 1840, one Mr. Bowen taught school, but an in- 318 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY discretion shortened his stay. One day he notified his pupils to come early as he had a great natural curiosity to show them. Next morning he climbed through the scuttle, and in the character of a bear cut all sorts of capers. Immediately the boys set upon him with clubs and poles, and that ended Mr. Bowen's school teaching days. Beginning with the fall term of 1841 and extending to the spring term of 1842, William W. Heaton, later circuit judge, taught this school. ' ' During the summer of 1837 was completed the first distinctive schoolhouse in Dixon. The money for its erection was raised by subscription. All of Dixon came forward with goodly amounts for that day, Mrs. Dixon giving the largest sum ($30). The school building was enclosed with undressed oak siding and a hard-oak shingle roof, and was divided into two rooms. It was afterward the scene of many notable gatherings of religious and political men. One of the noteworthy conventions of the politicians was the meeting of the whigs of the Jo Daviess congressional district, in the spring of 1840, who nominated Thomas Drummond, long afterward the noted United States judge, to represent them at "Washington. By 1844, the old schoolhouse had outlived its usefulness, but lingered on and was finally burned in the great fire of 1859. It is interesting to know at this day that in 1854, William Barge afterward associated with the Dixons in the practice of the law, was commissioned to teach by John Stevens, father of the historian, and that he (Mr. Barge) organized the first graded school in Lee County. In 1858, a high school department was established in the old Methodist church on Second Street, opposite the court- house. DIXON COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE Like other progressive counties of the Rock River Valley, Lee attempted to establish a number of academies, or institutes, of a grade above the curriculum of the public schools. In 1855, the Dixon Collegiate Institute was opened in the basement of the Lutheran church under the auspices of the Rock River Presbytery. The institution had an endowment of $25,000, the citizens of Dixon giving grounds, property and apparatus to the extent of $12,000. The institu- tion was incorporated in 1857, but was abandoned by the Presbytery in the following year and afterward became the home of various private schools. In 1861, a female seminary occupied the building, and in still later years it was transformed into residential property. LEE CENTER ACADEMY But the most noted institution of higher learning in the county was located outside of Dixon, several miles to the southeast, at Lee Center. The latter village was platted in 1846, and two years afterward a two-story brick build- ing was completed for academic purposes and opened to the public. For more than a decade, the Lee Center Academy stood high among the educational institutions of the Rock River Valley, students in attendance representing Rockford, Mount Morris and other towns which had academies of their own. Simeon Wright, afterward State superintendent of public instruction, was THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY :;i!> largely responsible for the high standing enjoyed by the Lee Center Academy. The common English branches were taught, as well as the higher studies, the natural sciences and Latin and Greek. The successors of the academy were the Lee Center Union Graded School and Union District No. 1, incorporated by the State Legislature in 1859. The old building was condemned and demol- ished in 1909 and a two-story brick schoolhouse erected on its site. WHITESIDE COUNTY TEACHERS AND INSTITUTIONS Whiteside County enjoyed the services of numerous faithful and able teach- ers, and was one of the first in the Rock River Valley to hold regular institutes to discuss and improve pedagogical methods and practices. The passage of the Free School law in 1855 was the signal for activity along such lines. In September, 1856, one of the first regular institutes in the county took place in the small brick church at Como, a short distance west of Sterling and Rock Falls. VY. W. Davis, a pioneer teacher at Emerson, was for some time secretary of the county institutes, and thus describes this one held at Como, in the last week of September, 1856: "Gray-haired Deacon Charles S. Deming, of Lyndon, was county commissioner, or superintendent, as the office is now called. Alex- ander Wilder was imported from New York to be conductor. A tall, lank specimen, a walking encyclopedia, who could answer any question about earth, air and sea, but confessed his inability to open the sessions with prayer. So a concert repetition of the Lord's Prayer formed the devotional exercises. M. R. Kelly brought from Lyndon a two-horse wagonload of girls, which he jocularly called a grist of teachers, in allusion to the large Como mill then running. Ephraim Brookfield and John Phinney were there. In the evening audience sat regularly .Miss Mary Pollock, of Como, a handsome brunette, afterward married to Mr. Wadley and long a resident of Clinton. Among the members was C. B. Smith, then conducting a select school in the basement of the old Presbyterian church in Sterling, who studied law and removed to Mt. Carroll, where he died. "For years the institute was on wheels, held from town to town; in 1857 at Erie, 1858 at Fulton, 1859 at Prophetstown, and so through the county. For the last thirty years (writing in 1908), the sessions have been held at Sterling or Morrison in the last week of August, just before the opening of schools. ' ' M. R. Kelly, mentioned by Mr. Davis, became county superintendent of schools, and an able, sunny and popular one. He died at a venerable, but hearty old age. As described by one of his warm friends: "His cottage on the edge of Morrison was a poet's home, with its oaks, vines and shrubbery." John Phinney was the antithesis of the genial Kelly. He was precise, made no pretensions to elegant speech, and was a hard-headed exponent of gram- mar and mental arithmetic. He taught in various places in the county. Grove Wright was in some respects the most successful teacher in White- side County, enthusiastic, musical and inspiring. Most of his good work was accomplished at Sterling. "Perhaps the most venerable, the longest in service of any of our teachers," says Mr. Davis, "was Mrs. John Whallon, widow of the well known captain. 320 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY She was born in 1832, coming with the father in a wagon from Massachusetts in 1837. Martha began to teach as a mere girl, returning to Galesburg after a time for further preparation. She taught at Sterling in 1848 when there was no school building, and Colonel "Wilson had to hunt a room and seat it, at Rock Falls then Rapids City, when the river was innocent of bridge and had to be forded. She was in faithful service all over the county, at Como, Lyndon, Prophetstown, Portland, Fulton. In her first terms, she received one dollar and a half per week and boarded around. Mrs. Whallon spent the sunset of her active and useful life in quiet retirement amid ancestral scenes in Lyndon." HENRY COUNTY AND ITS COLONIES Henry County was noted for the numerous colonies which were planted on her soil, and which brought to this Far West country the seeds of education from New England, New York and even from continental Europe. Cambridge was settled by stray pioneers shortly before a party of men and women from t"he Genesee country of New York occupied .the site of a town to which they gave the name of Geneseo. One of the most prominent of these colonists was R. R. Stewart. The New York Colony spread over nearly 20,000 acres in the western townships of the county, including Osco and Colona. The Wethers- field Colony, composed of Connecticut emigrants under the guidance of Dr. Caleb J. Tenney, a leading Congregational minister, first located around Andover shortly before the county was organized, but afterward centered their enter- prise in the Kewanee region long before the city was platted. Still farther south in what is now Henry County, and nearly a decade after the coming of the Wethersfield colonists, Eric Janson and his 1,100 followers who had broken away from the Lutherans in Sweden, founded Bishop Hill. A few months afterward, in January, 1847, the Bishop Hill colonists opened an Eng- lish school ; and, as stated, the members of the other colonies in Henry County were placing instructors over their children, soon after they were planted in the new country. The foundation and development of the early Kewanee schools belong to a much later period, as the city was not even platted until 1854. In the early days of Rock Island, the place had the shifting characteristics of a "river town." For many years it was also the center of the Indian disturbances. It was given over to trade and commerce and disquieting in- fluences, and its citizens did not organize as a body to promote the cause of local or sectional education. Not only was its populace restless as a body, but was far less homogeneous than that of the upper counties of the Valley. On the other hand, Moline early assumed the type of a substantial manufac- turing town, especially after 1847, when the Deere Plow Works were moved hither from Grand Detour. As early as 1843, enough citizens of Moline con- tributed cash, materials and labor to build their first schoolhouse. The cash contributions were negligible ; but the work and materials donated b}* the fifty- four subscribers were valued at $457, and the building which was completed (presumably for that amount) accommodated the pupils of the town until 1855. Thus was inaugurated the educational record of Rock Island County which has been continued without a break. THE ROCK BIVEK VALLEY 321 EARLY PROGRESS IN MOLINE AND ROCK ISLAM) In 1845 county organization of schools was provided for by an act of the Legislature. At the head of each county was placed a school commissioner, whose duties included the examination of candidates for teachers' certificates ami a general supervision of the system. In 1866, the title was changed to that of county superintendent of schools, and Judge W. H. Gest was the first to hold tlic office after the change had been made. Prior to the year 1857, there were five separate school districts in Rock Island, each controlled by a different board of directors. Persistent agitation against so imperfect and complicated a system — or iack of system — induced the Legislature to grant Rock Island a special charter providing for a Board of Education and a city superintendent of schools. On April 7, 1858, George .Mixter, David Hawes, Elton C. Cropper, Jacob Sailor and Washington L. Sweeney were elected the first Board of Education. With the assistance of B. M. Reynolds, the first superintendent of schools, and a corps of eighteen teachers, the board worked out a course of study and organized the public schools of the city into substantially the system of today. Supplementary to the free systems of both Rock Island and Moline are numerous large and well conducted parochial schools, most of them under the auspices of the Roman Catholic and the Swedish Lutheran churches. AUGUSTANA COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY One of the most marked evidences of the strong influences wielded by the Swedish Americans of the Rock River Valley is the founding of the Augustana College and Theological Seminary at Rock Island. The institution was organ- ized at a convention of Scandinavians held in Chicago, 111., but its inception should be traced to a more remote period in order to give merited credit to Rev. Lars Paul Esbjorn, who came to America in 1849 to be a missionary pastor among the Swedish settlers of the Middle West. He soon felt the need of an institution of higher learning to secure a supply of pastors for the Swedish churches. He therefore arranged to have Swedish students admitted to Capital University at Columbus, Ohio, and belonging to the Joint Synod of Ohio. Afterward he went East to raise funds for the erection of churches in the new Swedish settlements and received early assistance from Jennie Lind, the great Swedish singer. Subsequently, Mr. Esbjorn united with the Synod of Northern Illinois, which, cooperating with the Synod of Central Illinois, established the Illinois State University at Springfield. He w T as made a director of the school and called to the Scandinavian professorship. Then, in 1860, he moved to Chi- cago, taking with him nearly all his Scandinavian pupils. At a meeting held in that city on April 27th of that year, the little Scandinavian band, led by Rev. L. P. Esbjorn, organized the Augustana Synod and founded their own institution of learning. The new institution was opened in Chicago in September with one profes- sor (Mr. Esbjorn) and twenty-one students. From the first the location was not considered permanent and the work of raising funds for Augustana Sem- inary was carried on industriously among the churches both of the United 322 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY States and Sweden. In the spring of 1863 Rev. Esbjorn resigned. He was succeeded by Rev. T. N. Hasselquist, the Swedish Lutheran pastor at Paxton, 111., and in 1869 the name was changed to the Augustana College and Theological Seminary. The Norwegians organized a separate synod in 1870 and estab- lished their Augusta College, which is now located at Canton, South Dakota. Then Paxton, Ford County, was proving to be too far east to answer the require- ments of a growing college and theological school for the Swedish Americans of Illinois, who were concentrating in the lower valley of the Rock River. After careful examination and thoughtful consideration, the Augustana Synod finally decided on Rock Island as the logical site for its institution of learning and religious instruction. Since the fall of 1875, the location of the Augustana College and Theological Seminary has been on a noble rise of ground overlook- ing the Mississippi, and the institution has expanded with the growth of the industrious and moral racial element which supports it. "Whenever its merits and progress are extolled, the names of Rev. Lars Paul Esbjorn and Dr. T. N. Hasselquist lead all the rest. Those who revere them go even further and say : ' ' To these two men belongs the credit of founding the Swedish Lutheran Church of America and its educational, charitable and missionary work." (Through the courtesy of the Rex Studio. Janesville) THE ROCK RIVER NEAR JANESVILLE CHAPTER XIV THE CHURCHES OF THE VALLEY liberal beliefs in the upper section — early churches in rock county — madison a natural religious center first religious services and churches at the capital — rev. moses ordway comes to beaver dam socie- ties and churches formed there, as well as at horicon and juneau — st. Bernard's catholic church at watertown — metiiodists, Presbyterians and other protestants establish themselves st. lawrence catholic church of jefferson — orthodox churches and the universalists the methodists oro \mz1- first in winnebago county — first parsonage in rock rrver conference} — the morrills of rockford and congregationalism the liberal second congregational church second pastor a cousin of ralph waldo emerson — the first baptist church and revivalist jacob knapp — the episcopalians, unitarians, universalists, catholics and luth- erans — rockford a catholic diocese! first baptist church of belvidere — pioneer organization west of chicago dr. john s. king and professor bete 3. whitman — the presbyterians, methodists, universalists and disciples of christ at the county seat of boone) — missionary work of rev. aratus kent in stephenson county and northwestern illinois first presbyterian church of freeport other denominational work aratus kent holds first religious services in ogle county pioneer con- gregattonalists of grand detour — methodists organize first in oregon — rev. barton cartwright — rev. n. j. stroii, the venerable father of luth- eranism— rush of missionaries to inlet, lee county, early center of crime — pioneer methodists to labor in the dixon circuit the rock river assembly other church organizations religious services in whiteside county first held at prophetstown by methodist missionary — churches formed at lyndon, sterling and other places in county — metiiodists organize ix ha.nxa township, henry county the old rock river chapel — the wethersfield colony — overflow of its churches into kewanee churches of rock island and moline split along racial lines germans and swedes organize separate societies swedish baptist and methodist < hurches unique in sectarian history first religious services in rock river valley held at fort armstong the presbyterians, methodists, bap- tists, lutherans and catholics of rock island rev. father john g. alleman and his faithful mi-sionary work in rock island county the churches in moline rock river valley altogether a fertile field in the upraising of moral am) spiritual forces. The educational and intellectual development of the people in the Rock River Valley has not been unique, as measured by the standard of other typical Tol. 1—21 323 324 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY American communities, in that it has been largely promoted and guided by the churches and their religious spirit. Such moral and economic issues as tem- perance and slavery have both united and divided them, but they have usually taken a stand, firm and unqualified. All the denominations have been repre- sented in the Rock River Valley ; if any special feature more than another is prominent in this churchly survey it is that the upper region in Southern Wisconsin has been most prolific in giving birth to such liberal churches as those enrolled under Unitarianism and Universalism. EARLY CHURCHES IN ROCK COUNTY Rock County is a notable case in point. The first sermon preached at Janes- ville was in 1837 by Rev. Jesse Halstead, and in 1841 Rev. Alpha Warren organ- ized a church. In the following year, the Unitarians founded a society and in 1850 was organized the First Universalist Church. The Congregationalists commenced to gather in 1843, and their First Church, under Rev. C. H. A. Buckley, was founded in 1845. In 1846, the Catholics planted St. Patrick's Church at Janesville. At Beloit, the pioneer churches Avere the Congre- gational, 1838, the Baptist and the St. Paul's Episcopal, 1841, and the First Presbyterian Church of 1849. The first sermon in Beloit was preached by Prof. Seth S. Whitman of Belvidere, in the old Rock River Hotel, in September, 1837. He represented the pioneer Baptist church of that town and of the Rock River Valley. MADISON, A NATURAL RELIGIOUS CENTER Madison, as the territorial and state capital, naturally became a religious center of the Rock River Valley. As men and women of all creeds gravitated to it, the local churches formed early and represented many sects. The pol- iticians and public officials encouraged them and threw open various quarters in the capitol to the religious meetings before the churches were able to have houses of worship. The first preaching in Madison was inaugurated by the Methodists, in the fall of 1838, and their meetings were held under the direction of Samuel Pils- bury, of the Aztalan mission, in what is now Western Jefferson County near Lake Mills. Although there was preaching for more than a year in the Assembly Hall of the capitol, no regular class was formed by the Methodists until 1840. In October of that year nine persons formed an organization in the library and court room of the capitol under the auspices of the Dutch Reformed Church, but in June, 1841, the society adopted the name of the Congregational Church of Madison and connected itself with the Presbyterian and Congregational Convention of Wisconsin. Rev. Father Kundig held the first Catholic services, representing ten families, in the capitol during the year 1842, and laid the foundation of St. Raphael's Church. Rev. J. G. Miller, of the Evangelical Association, came from Ohio with its bishop, John Seibert, and in 1844 preached the first sermon in German which was ever delivered at the capitol. In 1847, the First Baptist Church was organized at Lake Monona by Rev. Thomas Shillinglaugh, the first meeting being held in the Superior Court room. These THE HOCK RIVER VALLEY :m were the pioneer religions bodies to be established at Madison, and many others joined them at a later day to give the State capital a spiritual and moral, as well as a political standing. REV. MOSES ORDWAY COMES TO BEAVER DAM The pioneer man of God to visit the young settlements of Dodge County was Rev. Moses Ordway, the Presbyterian missionary from Milwaukee, who while on his way to Green Bay stopped at the site of Beaver Dam, in 1840, and com- menced his labors there. He preached in the Beaver Dam neighborhood for several years, died in the spring of 1846 and was buried in Milwaukee. There various members of his family became cjuite prominent. The First Presbyterian Church of Beaver Dam was organized about the time of Deacon Ordway 's death. The First Methodist and the St. Mark's Episcopal churches were organized in a cabinet shop in 1846. The Baptists and Catholics established themselves at Pox Lake in 1845 and 1849, and the Congregationalists and Methodists, several years later. The Methodists and Presbyterians first entered the religious field at Horicon in 1845-46, Rev. Moses Ordway preaching to the latter both at Lurnett and Horicon. In July, 1845, the Congregationalists at Waupun formed their first organization under the direction of Rev. Stephen Peet, and about the same time, or a little earlier, the Methodists organized a class in the upper town. The First Baptist Church of Waupun was also organized in 1845 and the Disciples Church in 1848. The first society to be formed at Juneau, the county seat of Dodge, was in 1847, the Presbyterians organizing in 1847 at the farm house of Lester Nobles. Five years afterward they formed a regular church. The Methodists commenced to hold meetings at about the same time and for some years they shared the schoolhouse with the Presbyterians as a place of meeting. ST. Bernard's catholic church, watertown Most of Watertown is located in Jefferson County. St. Bernard's Catholic Church was the first religious organization to be established in the place, and in 1846 through the interest and generosity of the Regan brothers grounds were obtained and a meeting house erected. Rev. Patrick McKernan was its first resident pastor. In the fall of 1872 Rev. W. Corby, who had been provincial superior at Notre Dame, Ind., and president of the university, became pastor of St. Bernard's Parish, and soon afterward the College of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, its parochial school, was opened. In the following year, the corner stone of the cathedral was laid ; of special historic interest, as it had been taken from the Rock of Cashell, Ireland. OTHER RELIGIOUS BODIES The Methodists commenced to meet in AVatertown in 1844, and in the fol- lowing year they cooperated with the other Protestants of the town in the erec- tion of a Union church; but the Methodists appear to have monopolized it at a later period. In July, 1845, Rev. Stephen Peet, agent of the Presbyterian 326 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Home Missionary Society, founded the church which subsequently adopted the Congregational form of church government. St. Paul's Episcopal Church of "Watertown was organized in 1847 by Rev. Melancthon Hoyt, a missionary of Fox Lake, who walked from that point to perform that service. In the late '40s the strength of the German element in the Watertown region was demon- strated by the founding of the St. Henry's Catholic, the Protestant Evangelical and the German M. E. churches. At Jefferson, the county seat, the Catholics are quite strong. St. Lawrence had its origin in the worship of a few families who gathered in the log cabin of John Haas in 1842. Mass was first celebrated there by Rev. Father Maxi- millian Gardner, a missionary from Sauk County, and in December, 1850, the first house of worship was dedicated a short distance east of Mr. Haas' log cabin. Several Evangelical societies were founded from 1845 to 1851, and in 1848 Rev. Seth Barnett preached the doctrine of the universal salvation of mankind in the Juneau courthouse. The Universalists formed a regular society in 1850 and in 1854 erected a house of worship. Two years later, the Catholics of St. John the Baptist Church moved into the Universalist edifice. The Presby- terians organized in 1850 and the Methodists in 1851. LUTHERANISM IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY "Winnebago County has many features similar to Rock, Jefferson and other sections of the upper Rock River Valley in the composition of its religious elements. Both its orthodox and its liberal churches are strong and growing. On account of its large and stalwart Swedish admixture of racial characteristics, Winnebago in the upper valley corresponds to Rock Island County in the lower, as a bulwark of American Lutheranism. As the blood of its pioneers coursed mainly through New England veins, its early churches were formed by Meth- odists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Universalists and Unitarians, in the order named. THE METHODISTS AND PIONEER PARSONAGE In June, 1836, Rev. Samuel Pilsbury preached a sermon at the house of Hiram Enoch, afterward county treasurer and editor and proprietor of the Rockford Journal. He was then living in Guilford Township, about seven miles and a half east of the count}' seat. To grace this first gathering of the Methodists of the county, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Beers and Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Gregory traveled six miles in a heavy lumber wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen. There were other Methodist meetings at Mr. Enoch's house and the good wife is said to have increased their attendance by serving appetizing Sunday din- ners to the members of the congregation. Preaching was also maintained in Mr. Gregory's house at Rockford, and a class was finally formed consisting of Samuel and Joanna Gregory, Mary Enoch, and Daniel and Mary Beers. Until 1838 various circuit preachers attended the little Methodist band at Rock- ford, but in that year Leander S. Walker was placed in charge and his people built him a parsonage on First Street. This was the first Methodist parsonage erected within what is now the Rock River Conference; which Avas organized THE KOCK RIVKR VALLEY 327 at Mt. .Monis in Aii-iist, 1840. Rockford was retained in the Chicago district. The .Methodists were then holding services in the brick schoolhouse on the east side of the public square, and there was a clash between them and the Univer- sal ists. The Methodists withdrew from the schoolhouse and their pastor finished the lower part of his parsonage as a chapel. They afterward worshiped in the old Seminary building. In 1848, a house of worship was completed on South Second Street in what was then called the Barrens, from its unimproved ap- pearance. In January, 1852, the First Methodist Church of Rockford had become so large that the Court Street Church was organized by the members who resided on the West Side. The mother church has other children. The Rockford Wes- leyan Seminary, another offshoot of 1857, was to be under the jurisdiction of the Rock River Conference, but the enterprise was unsuccessful. Quite a num- ber of houses were built, but in time several of them migrated into town on rollers, and the land reverted to farming purposes. THE CONGREGATIONALISTS, BAPTISTS AND OTHER DENOMINATIONS Congregationalism came with the early settlers from New England. The First Church was organized May 5, 1837, with nine members. It was founded at that date by Rev. John Morrill, at the home of his brother, Israel Morrill, on the west side of the river. The third brother to join the organization was Richard Morrill ; the three brothers and their wives therefore contributed two- thirds of the original membership. The First Congregational is the oldest church in Rockford, inasmuch as the First Methodist, formed the previous year, ceased to exist in the late '70s. Rev. John Morrill continued in the pastorate for about a year. He had come in a farm wagon from New York as a home mis- sionary to Winnebago County, whither his brother, Israel, had preceded him, and in March, 1839, officiated in the organization of the Presbyterian Church at Belvidere. This pioneer minister died at Pecatonica, in February, 1874. The Congregationalists of Rockford first worshiped in the "stage barn" built by Daniel S. Haight, near the corner of State and Third streets. In the fall of 1838, Germanicus Kent and George W. Brinckerhoff, at their own initiative, raised a building fund from some New York friends and erected a house of worship on the other side of the river, which section of the town he was pro- moting. The building thus erected was the first church edifice in Rockford, and stood on the southwest corner of Church and Green streets. In view of that fact, the following description is pertinent : It was a frame structure, clap- boarded, in Doric style, 45 feet square inside, and stood on a foundation of blocks of trees cut from the adjoining grove, with sills resting upon them about three feet above the ground. In fact, the greater portion of the building ma- terial was obtained from adjacent lots. The building fronted to the east and had three windows on each side. A porch about ten feet wide extended across the front, covered by an extension of the roof, which was supported by four fluted wooden columns. This sylvan sanctuary was occupied by the First Church about, six years. The longest, and perhaps the most notable pastorate, enjoyed by the First Congregational Church was that of Dr. Henry M. Goodwin, which 328 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY extended from August, 1850, until January, 1872. The present edifice was erected in 1870. The Second Congregational Church was organized from the First in the autumn of 1849. The second pastor of the church was Rev. Joseph Emerson, a cousin of Ralph Emerson, of Rockford, and a second cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the sage of Concord. The Second Congregational became early noted for its liberal attitude toward other churches and all elevating movements, and among the noted speakers who were invited to contribute their thoughts and inspiration to its congregations were A. Bronson Alcott, Dr. Lyman Abbott and Julia Ward Howe. The magnificent church completed in May, 1892, was destroyed by fire less than two years afterward, but rededicated in 1894. The First Baptist Church of Rockford was organized in December, 1838, at the home of Dr. George Haskell, and was the third religious body to be founded in Rockford. It was also the second Baptist church to be planted in Northern Illinois, the society at Belvidere antedating it by nearly two years and a half. Prof. Seth S. Whitman was chosen moderator and Dr. Haskell, clerk. The latter had built a brick block on the site of the Ashton dry goods store, with a hall on the second floor for public meetings, and there the church held its early services. In December, 1839, the church was incor- porated, and in May, 1841, occupied a little frame building at Main and Peach streets as its first house of worship. Professor Whitman may be called its first regular pastor, and Rev. Solomon Knapp, its first resident minister. Elder Jacob Knapp held a series of remarkable revivals in the First Baptist Church in 1848-49, which both increased the local membership and established his fame as a revivalist. For twenty-five years thereafter his home was in Rockford. When the stone edifice of the First Baptist Church was completed in 1850, at a total cost of $6,000, it was considered the finest meeting house in the village. In 1858, the State Street Baptist Church was organized by members of the First who lived on the east side of the river, and in 1880 Swedish members of the latter formed an independent society. The first Episcopalians to settle in Winnebago County were members of the Sampson George family, who came from England in September, 1836, but the first official visitation by a clergyman of the American Church was made by Rt. Rev. Philander Chase, first bishop of the Diocese of Illinois, who reached Rockford in August, 1841. Upon that occasion, Episcopalian services were first held in the old courthouse on North Street. The Rockford parish was organized in 1849 and its house of worship was consecrated in August, 1853 by the name of Emmanuel Church, of Rockford. The Unitarians and Universalists from New England gathered in Rockford at an early day to consolidate the liberal religious sentiment of the community into distinctive bodies. Both seemed to have gathered their forces for concerted action in 1841. The Unitarians completed an organization in that year by electing as trustees of their society, Richard Montague, Isaac N. Cunningham, Francis Burnap, Ephraim Wyman and James M. Wight, but there is no record of any progress during the following two years. The Universalists formed a distinctive organization sooner than the Unita- rians. In April, 1841, representatives of Universalism met at the brick school- house in East Rockford, and organized a church by electing Daniel S. Haight, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 329 Ezra Dorman and Thomas Thatcher as trustees. There, as well as at the court- house, services were held for some time, but the building commenced by the Universalists on the east side of the public square was never completed. Mass is said to have been celebrated by Catholic priests from New Dublin and Freeport previous to 1850, but the first settled pastor of St. James Parish was Rev. John A. Hampston who came to Rockford in November, 1851. The church edifice of the present was dedicated in 1867. Father James J. Flaherty was in charm' for twenty-two years, or until 1907. St. Mary's Parish was set off from St. James and comprised all of Rockford west of the river. Rockford Diocese was created in September, 1908, and Rt. Rev. Bishop Peter James Mul- doon was soon afterward appointed head of the see. Catholic organizations established within the past sixteen years are St. Anthony's, by the Italians of Rockford. and St. Stanislaus, by the Poles. ONE OF THE LARGEST OF SWEDISH LUTHERAN CHURCHES The First. Swedish Lutheran Church, founded in 1854, with Rev. A. Andreen as its first pastor, had at one time the largest membership of any organization belonging to that denomination in America, and it is still in the front ranks. In 1860. it withdrew from the synod of Northern Illinois and joined the Augustana Synod. When the present church was erected on Lafayette Avenue in 1883, at a cost of $60,000, it was one of the handsomest religious structures in Rockford and its auditorium is yet among the largest. The Emmanuel Luth- eran, Swedish Lutheran Zion, German Lutheran, Salem Lutheran and Trinity English Lutheran, are other churches in Rockford which testify to the strength and growth of this Protestant faith in the upper Rock River Valley. Later organizations of liberal tendencies are the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which was founded in 1856 and reorganized in 1898; Church of the Christian Union, founded by Dr. Thomas Kerr in 1870, and the First Christian Science Church, established in 1899 and incorporated in 1902. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF BELVIDERE Boone County east of Winnebago has well maintained the reputation of the Rock River Valley for being a consistent supporter and promoter of religion and morality, early and late. The First Baptist Church, of Belvidere, was the pioneer organization of that denomination in Illinois west of Chicago. In March. 1836, Dr. John S. King, a leading Baptist divine, preached the first sermon in the Kishwaukee wilds. For that purpose, the primitive home of Timothy Cas- well was thrown open to all who might wish to worship. There were quite a number of Baptists in Belvidere at the time, and soon after Dr. King thus planted the seed, Deacon N. Crosby, Ira Ilaskins and others commenced to water it and cultivate the field. In September, 1836, Professor Seth S. Whit- man became the first regular pastor of the First Baptist Church of Belvidere, and served ten years. Professor Whitman was a native of Vermont, in 1827 was a member of the first graduating class of Newton Theological Institution (N. Y.) and was at once called to the chair of Biblical Interpretation at Hamil- ton Theological Institution. After occupying that chair for seven years, he 330 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY came to Belvidere and entered into his pastoral and civil work, for besides preaching to the Baptist Church he performed the duties of clerk of the Circuit Court and village postmaster. Both Professor Whitman and Dr. King were long faithful and honored characters of the upper Rock River Valley ; faithful and honored during the entire period of their lives. Dr. King lived to be nearly ninety years of age, dying at DeKalb, in September, 1875. The First Presbyterian Church of Belvidere was organized at the log house of Stephen Burnet in March, 1839, and two 3 T ears later was received into the Ottawa Presbytery. In 1843, its first house of worship and the first building in the county used exclusively for religious purposes, was erected on the corner of Main and Mechanic streets. It was a little church built of white brick. The Methodist circuits in Northern Illinois west of the Illinois River and north of Peoria were the Ottawa and Belvidere ; the latter was cut from the Ottawa Circuit about 1836. In 1850, when the brick church of the local charge was erected it was the finest house of worship in Belvidere. The Universalists met in Belvidere for worship as early as 1838, Rev. Seth Barnes of Rockford ministering to them. They effected a regular organization in August, 1853, and for a number of years thereafter met in the courthouse and various churches until 1862, when they erected a house of worship of their own. The Christian Church, founded on the teachings and faith of Alexander Campbell, was fairly organized in 1838. It was closely identified with the Unitarians, and a Unitarian minister was called to preside over the church, as well as assume charge of the Newton Academy at Belvidere. The Lutherans are strong in Belvidere, and the Episcopalians and Catholics have also organ- ized bodies of long standing. MISSIONARY WORK OF REV. ARATUS KENT IN NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS Although Methodist circuit riders were preaching in the Freeport district of Stephenson County as early as 1834 (notably Rev. James McKean), the Presbyterians first organized themselves into a church body. But Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists and all other Protestant sects give chief credit to one man for the planting of their Gospel in Northern Illinois and Southern Wiscon- sin. Thus writes Mrs. D. A. Knowlton in a "Journal of the Illinois State His- torical Society": "The seeds of Presbyterianism were sown in this region by Aratus Kent, a young man of fine education and ardent spirit sent from the East to Galena, then a mining town, where after two years of hard work a church was organized. While still making his headquarters at Galena, he was in charge of the missionary work extending east from that point. The Methodists and Baptists pursued their methods of missionary effort by holding camp meet- ings, the Presbyterians joining with them whenever convenient. Father Kent spent his whole life in arduous toil for the upbuilding of the Kingdom of Christ in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, and not only helped to organize churches, but was instrumental in founding Beloit College and Rockford Female Seminary, now Rockford College." More specific information may be added to the foregoing to the effect that Rev. Aratus Kent was a graduate both of Yale and Princeton universities and TIIK ROCK RIYKR YALLKY 331 in 1 >•_!!• came to the Galena lead mines as a Congregational missionary. This was a missionary field which do one else would assume, but within two years he had established a Sunday school, a day school and the First Presbyterian Church. Of the last named he remained pastor for seventeen years, when he became agent of the Eome .Missionary Society. He died at Galena, respected and loved wherever he moved and labored, November 8, 186!). Stephenson County had many New Englanders and Pennsylvania Dulcli among the early settlers, while the immigrant population was at first largely Irish Roman Catholics, followed bj r Germans, both Roman Catholic and Prot- estant, with a number of rationalists or representatives of the so-called libei*al faiths. ''In 1842," continues Mrs. Knowlton, "a few of Freeport's leading men determined to start and sustain a Sunday evening prayer meeting, with a view to organizing a church. Within six months a home missionary was sent from Oswego, New York, and the First Presbyterian Church of Freeport was organized with fourteen members. Seven of these were of Freeport and seven from Cedarville and Buena Vista. The growth of the church was similar to many others of that period, their place of worship being in the frame build- ing used as a courthouse, except when the weather became very cold they were obliged to use the smaller schoolhouse. It took hard work and faithfulness on the part of the members to overcome obstacles and keep up interest enough to support the pastor, even with the help of the Home Mission Board." Finally a meeting house was dedicated, and in December, 1849, the first church bell in the county rung out the old year and rung in the new, from the tower of the First Presbyterian Church of Freeport. The Second Presbyterian Church had been organized in 1847, and a few years afterward German Presbyterian societies were founded in Cedarville, Rock Run and Dakota. In 1850, Freeport Mas erected into a separate Methodist charge under Rev. John F. Devore, and in 1854 the German M. E. Church was founded under the pastorate of Rev. H. Vosholl. The Baptists formed a society in December, 1845, first meeting at the home of Rev. James Sehofield, who had been sent for that purpose by the American Baptist Home Missionary Society. Their church was dedicated in 1848. In the year named, Rev. John Cavanaugh, pastor of the Roman Catholic Church at New Dublin, visited Freeport to there organize a society of his faith. His brother-in-law. Thomas Egan, with his family and several other Catholics, had settled there. Mrs. Egan set aside a room in the second story of a building which her husband had just erected, and there Father Cavanaugh celebrated mass for the first time in Freeport. Thus was St. .Mary's Church born, and Father Cavanaugh became its first resident priest. The St. John's German Evangelical Church was founded in 1847, and a few years afterward the Emanuel Church of the Evangelical Association (also German) was established in Freeport as a mission. It is probable that the first religious services in Ogle County were held at Polo, by Aratus Kent, the Presbyterian missionary of Galena. This was about 1834 and the meeting place was the new house of Captain Stephen Hull, thrown open for that purpose before it had any roof. Soon afterward, James McKean was sent to the Buffalo Grove Mission, organizing the Buffalo Grove and Polo 332 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Methodist Church, March 3, 1835 ; which was the first organized religious body within the present limits of Ogle County. The first settlers of the Methodist faith held their first meeting at the house of Perry Norton, Byron, in 1835. They organized a societj' in 1837 under the direction of Rev. James McKean. Eighteen years later, their first church was built during the third period of service there as pastor of Rev. Barton Cartwright, who hauled all the stone for the foundations and walls himself, and worked on the building as it was being constructed. The Congregational Church, however, preceded the Methodist as an organ- ized body, its first pastor being Rev. E. Brown, who came from North Hadley, Mass., in 1838. The brick church of the Congregationalists was dedicated in 1847. PIONEER CHURCHES OF GRAND DETOUR AND OREGON Of the religious associations in Grand Detour, which were among the earliest in the county to be formed, the Congregationalists were the first to organize in July, 1837. Rev. Colvin W. Babbitt was their first pastor. The church build- ing was dedicated in November, 1848. The lumber was purchased in Chicago and hauled to Grand Detour by Ruel Peabody, one of the trustees. Thus was religion promoted in those days at hard cost; therefore, the more valued. The first Episcopal service at Grand Detour was held in June, 1838, Bishop Chase officiating, and the first Methodist class was formed in 1839. The temperance movement was then active, and in February of the latter year a society was organized with a membership of seventy-two. REV. BARTON CARTWRIGHT AND REV. N. J. STROH Oregon was the center of great religious activity. The first denomination to organize there was the Methodist, Rev. G. G. Worthington forming a class for his people in 1839. Oregon was then on the Buffalo Grove Circuit, estab- lished four years earlier and extending from Rochelle to the Mississippi River and from Prophetstown an equal distance north. James McKean was the first pastor to travel this district ; but the best known circuit rider in Oregon was the Rev. Barton Cartwright, who later made his home at Mount Morris and after that again in Oregon, where he died. The Oregon charge built its first church in 1857. The Lutherans were the first in Oregon to erect a church building. Their first pastor, Rev. N. J. Stroh, was the pioneer of his faith to settle in Oregon, or Ogle County, being on the ground as early as 1846. The corner stone of the church was laid in 1850, two years after the founding of the society. Father Stroh continued a resident of the county for the remainder of his life, or until 1897, which brought him within one year of being a centenarian and giving him a record of having continued ninety years in the faith. The foregoing paragraphs are but pillars in the church annals of Ogle County, the details being reserved for its history proper. The early settlement of Lee County, especially in the vicinity of Dixon, caused by the tide of emigrants setting toward the Galena lead region, brought about the establishment of numerous religious organizations in that section of the Rock River Valley. Peter Cartwright, Aratus Kent and other famous mis- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 333 Bionaries of Northern Illinois were early drawn toward the county. In the spring of 1836, the first Methodist sermon was preached to the people of Dixon's Perry by Rev. James McKean, of Elkhorn Grove, pastor in charge of Hender- son's Mission, and about the same time Peter Cartwright, the great backwoods preacher and presiding elder of his church, was holding forth in that region both of wickedness and revivalism, Inlet, later Lee Center. Elder Cartwright preached his first sermon at that time and place in the house of C. R. Dewey and soon afterward a Methodist class was organized with John Fosdick as leader. At intervals of six weeks preaching was held over a store in the village of Dixon. RUSH OF MISSIONARIES TO INLET, LEE COUNTY Later Dixon Circuit was extended and in 1842 it embraced Inlet Grove, Palestine Grove, Melugin's Grove, Washington Grove, Light House Point, Jef- ferson Grove, Daysville and Payne's Point, besides the village itself. Of the Dixon Circuit preachers, Luke Hitchcock was among the best known. Inlet was never missed by the circuit rider. For several years it was one of the chief centers in the Rock River Valley of the Banditti of the Prairies and other outlaws and the good earnest preachers could always find numerous sub- jects for conversion. Afterward when the reign of the wicked was over and it became the center of academic education, temperance and other elevating influences, it and its successor, Lee Center, were noted for their religious and moral tone. CHURCHES OF BUFFALO GROVE AND DIXON Among other denominations than the Methodists it was customary for two or more communities to unite in the holding of religious services, both from motives of good fellowship and to be assured of good audiences. For instance, early religious services for Dixon were held at Buffalo Grove by residents of that place and Dixon's Ferry, and in May, 1838, the first regular church was organized under the appropriate name of "The First Regular Baptist Church of Dixon and Buffalo Grove." It was formed at the latter place under the direction of Thomas Powell, moderator, and the following were the original members: Howland Bicknell, Rebecca Dixon, Elizabeth Bellows, Jerusha Ham- mond, Sarah Kellogg, Martha Parks and Ann Carley. The First Baptist Church of Dixon was not formally organized until January, 1841, and is prosperous today; the Buffalo Grove membership dispersed in the late '40s. Bishop Philander Chase held Episcopalian services in Dixon as early as 1837. He came from Grand Detour, at which was stationed at a later day a missionary of that faith, Rev. Abraham J. Warner, who held regular services at that place, and at Dixon, Sterling and Elkhorn Grove. The parish organiza- tion at Dixon was effected about 18f>5, under the name of St. Luke's Church. In 1842, the Baptist Church split into two congregations at Dixon and Buffalo Grove, and in the following year the First Methodist Church completed its first house of worship on Second Street south of the public square. 334 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE ROCK RIVER ASSEMBLY The "First Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Lee County" was organ- ized August, 1848, in a South Dixon barn by Rev. Jacob Burket. In 1853 its name was changed to that of the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, and four years later the German members withdrew and organized a separate con- gregation. To the Lutherans of the Dixon region, especially St. Paul's Church, Northern Illinois is indebted for the establishment of the Rock River Assembly, or Chautauqua, the home of which is a beautiful tract of about forty acres on the north bank of the river adjoining the City of Dixon on the east. Its large circular auditorium, school and administration buildings, hotel and comfortable cottages, with electric lighting, abundant water supply, provisions for outdoor sports and adequate transportation, make the Assembly site ideal for restful study, spiritual uplift and healthful recreation. In 1850 and 1854 both the Unitarians and the Congregationalists formed societies, the former building a handsome church, but after a few years they disbanded, most of the Congregationalists joining the Presbyterian Church. MISSIONARIES OP WHITESIDE COUNTY AT PROPHETSTOWN The Catholics were organized in 1854 by Father Mark Anthony, and have increased in numbers from year to year as the St. Patrick's Church. As a rule the missionaries of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches were the first to venture into the primitive communities of Whiteside County. The first recorded religious services were held in what is now the Township of Prophetstown, on Christmas day of 1835, at the house of Asa Crook, and were conducted by a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The circuit preacher was on his way to establish a mission, but losing his trail on the prairie came to Prophetstown for shelter. Charles Bent, the newspaper man and his- torian of Morristown, continues the story: N. G-. Reynolds, Norman B. Seely, Alexander Seely and their families, had assembled at Mr. Crook's for a holiday visit, and while they were there, the minister came in, and, true to his calling, desired to hold a religious meeting, stating that if Methodist preaching would suit those assembled, he would commence the services. Mr. Reynolds replied that they had been used to hearing the Gospel preached by Methodist ministers in the East, and he had no doubt all would be happy to hear a minister of that denomination preach again. The agreement being made, P. B. Reynolds, then a boy, was sent out with a sleigh to gather in the families of William Hill, Uncle Harry Smith and others, and when all had arrived the minister pro- ceeded with the services. It is doubtful if a more attentive congregation has ever assembled in the Township of Prophetstown. The first minister who had regular preaching days came from Elkhorn Grove and held his meetings on a week day. The First M. E. Society in Prophetstown was formed in the sum- mer of 1836, at the house of N. G. Reynolds and consisted of Mr. and Mrs. William Hill, Mrs. Harry Smith and Mrs. N. G. Reynolds. It was formed at first as a mission society, and afterward grew into the present M. E. Church and Society of Prophetstown. THE ROCK RIVEE PALLET 335 EARLY RELIGIOUS BODIES ORGANIZED I '»ut the first independent religious body organized in Whiteside County was the Congregational Church and Society of Lyndon, formed on the 27th of June, 1836. The initiatory steps leading toward that organization were taken by Adam R. Hamilton, William D. Dudley and Chauncey G. Woodruff, with their families, the earliest settlers of Lyndon, and fresh from the great revivals which occurred in New York and other Eastern States during the winters of 1830 and 1835. The meeting was held at the house of William D. Dudley and presided over by Rev. Elisha Hazard, agent of the American Home Missionary Society, who had come to the West to establish churches and societies under its patronage. He became the first pastor of the Lyndon church. Its first meeting house was erected in 1850. The Baptists of Lyndon organized a church in 1837 and the Methodists in 1841. The Methodists also commenced early to hold services in Sterling township. The settlers opened their cabins freely to the minister. From a class said to have been formed in 1836 in the cabin of Hezekiah Brink, developed the pres- ent Broadway M. E. Church, of the City of Sterling. Rev. Barton H. Cart- wright founded the original class of six members, and no missionary in the Rock River Valley left a more enduring record. The year 1839 marked the formation of quite a number of churches in Whiteside County. The First Presbyterian Church was organized in Albany in that year; the Methodists of Erie established a church and Sunday school; the First Congregational Church of Union Grove was formed a few miles east of Fulton, and also in 1839 was organized the Presbyterian Church and Society, at Sharon, by Rev. Mr. Wilcox, of Geneseo, Henry County; while a Protestant Methodist Church was formed in Union Grove, now a part of Morrison. One of the first of the Roman Catholic churches to be established was St. Patrick's, at Sterling, organized in 1854. The Lutheran churches and societies were founded at a still later period, and all will be noticed in the history of Whiteside County. The oldest church at Rock Falls is the Methodist, organized in 1868. The first religious organization to be formed in Henry County was at the house of P. K. Hanna, in the township of that name, during the fall of 1835. ruder Mr. Hanna 's enthusiastic direction a number of Methodists were gath- ered at his home and were organized into a class by Rev. Colin D. James. In 1854, a brick edifice was erected to accommodate the growing society. It was known t'<>r years as the Rock River Chapel, and w;is used until the fall of 1875, when a better house of worship was built in the village of Cleveland. At Colona, also in the northwestern part of the county, the Methodists formed a class as early as 1842, and the Presbyterians organized churches at a later day. In the southern townships of the county, the Swedes and Germans planted numerous settlements and organized themselves into religious bodies during the '60s. One of the earliest and strongest churches in. Kewanee to be formed during that period being that founded by the German Evangelical Association on School Section No. 28. The Swedish M. E. Church of Bishop Hill was organized in the fall of 1864. 336 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY HENRY COUNTY CHURCHES — KEWANEE But the colonies which were established in Henry County were the means of planting' some of its pioneer churches. Wethersfield Colony, which originated among the Connecticut Congregationalists of that town in the East, first chose Andover, Henry County, as the site of its experiment. In October, 1839, a Congregationalist Church was established there, and in 1841 a Methodist class was formed. After Andover had been abandoned in favor of the site farther east, known as Wethersfield, Kewanee was platted (in 1854) on either side of the Military Tract Railroad and commenced to draw from the strength of the colony. The Congregationalists first organized in the new railroad town, and in August, 1855, commenced to meet in the village schoolhouse. In 1858, a church was formally organized with Rev. Charles H. Pierce as its settled pastor. A few months later, the Methodists of the colony, who had been meeting in a schoolhouse about a mile east of Kewanee, moved into town, where they reor- ganized and remained. In May, 1856, the Baptists of the Wethersfield Colony voted to move to Kewanee and acted accordingly. The Catholics organized in 1854, soon after Kewanee was platted, at the house of Matthew Joyce, which occupied the site of the building afterward erected by St. Mary's Catholic Church as its place of worship. The Church of the Latter Day Saints was also a religious organization of an early day which did not originate in the Wethers- field Colony. It was first established, in 1859, at Amboy, Lee County, and commenced its work at Kewanee in 1862. NOTED CHURCHES OF ROCK ISLAND In the lower part of the Rock River Valley are the metropolitan communi- ties of Rock Island and Moline, with their varied activities of commerce and the industries. The early and generous mixture of Germans and Swedes among the settled population of Rock Island County caused a remarkable — even a unique — alignment of its religious organizations. With the coming of mature men and women from continental Europe, and before even the younger generations had been molded into English-speaking Americans, the Catholic and Lutheran churches commenced to split along racial lines, and both Swedes and Germans affiliated themselves with Protestant denominations from which they had here- tofore held themselves aloof, or been utter strangers. In fact, until the record of sectarian organization commenced to be written in Rock Island, a Swedish Baptist Church was unknown in the world, and at an early date was organ- ized in that city the second Swedish Methodist congregation in the universe. FIRST RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN ROCK RIVER VALLEY The first religious services held for a congregation of white people in the Rock River Valley were those conducted at Fort Armstrong in 1826 by a traveling minister whose name has not been recorded. The Rev. John Kinney held occasional services at the fort in 1829 and 1833, and soon afterward the Methodist Episcopal Church sent Rev. Asa McMurtry to Rock Island to organize THE HOCK RIVER VALLEY 337 a class. Meetings were held at private residences until 1836, when the first school house was built and services were held there for a number of years. Thus the pioneer missionaries were the first to enter the Rock Island field. In the city alone there are now more than thirty churches, the Presbyterians leading in number, with the Evangelical Lutherans (English and Swedish), Methodists and Roman Catholics, following. The Baptists and Christians (Disciples of Christ) are also strong and growing. EARLY PROTESTANT CHURCHES OP ROCK ISLAND The Presbyterians were largely represented among the early settlers of Rock Island. The First Presbyterian Church of Stephenson was organized at a meet- ing held in the old Rock Island House, November 27, 1837. In 1848, the con- gregation split on the question of slavery, the seceding faction organizing the Second Presbyterian Church and building a house of worship opposite the courthouse on Second Avenue. In 1870, the factions were reunited as the Central Presbyterian Church. The United Presbyterian Church was formed in 1854 as the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church, and several years previously the Trinity Episcopal Church had its beginnings. About 1850, the .Methodists built an edifice on the present site of Spencer Square and in 1855 erected a handsome new church at Nineteenth Street and Fifth Avenue. The German Methodists began work in Rock Island in the latter year, when Dlrich Guntcr was sent by the Rock River Conference and organized a congregation. The church was afterward affiliated with the St. Louis Conference. The Swedish Methodists were also active and organized their society under Rev. Jonas Headstrom. The First Baptist Church was organized at the home of Lemuel Ludden in 1837, and Rev. Titus Gillet became its first settled pastor. The pioneer Swedish Baptist Church of the world was organized, with three members, at the old schoolhouse in Union Square, now Spencer Square, August 13, 1852. Its pastor and founder was Rev. G. Palmquist. The German Lutherans established themselves in Rock Island during the early '50s, and founded the Evangelical Lutheran Emanuel Church at Fifth Avenue and Twentieth Street. In 1856, the Missouri Synod sent Rev. C. A. T. Selle to the charge. Five years later its first brick house of worship was dedi- cated. The Lutheran Emanuel was the mother church of the societies identified with the faith in Rock Island. The first visitation of a Catholic priest to the white settlers of Rock Island was made by Father Mazuchelli, a missionary of the church who had been sent to the lead mines of Galena in 1835. On his way thither, he stopped at what was then the town of Stephenson, as well as Davenport, and made another visit to the Rocky Island district upon his return from Galena in 1837. REV. JOHN (i. ALLEMAN AND CATHOLICISM The story of the founding of St. James Church and the labors of the Rev. Father John G. Alleman is of deep interest to all, irrespective of creed, who revere faithfulness and sturdiness of character. It is well told bv James F. 338 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Murphy, a leading lawyer and layman of the Catholic Church in Rock Island. He writes : ' ' The first Catholic church in the county was built at Rock Island during the pastorate of Rev. Father John G. Alleman, a German Dominican friar in 1851, although not completed until 1852. This church was named St. James, and stood at what is now Twenty-second Street and Fourth Avenue, on the site now occupied by St. Mary's German Catholic church. The size of this church was 40x66 feet, and it was built of stone quarried from the ground on which the church was built. The windows, sills, water tables and other trimmings, however, were brought from Nauvoo, 111., and were taken from the ruins of the Mormon temple at that place. They were loaded on flat boats and transported up the Mississippi River to Rock Island, where they were put in place. In later years when the old church, becoming too small, was torn down, these stone trimmings were used in the new rectory. "Father Alleman had established a church and cabin at Fort Madison, la., where he continued to reside, not taking permanent charge of St. James until 1857, when he removed to Rock Island. Father John Larmer, who knew him well, says of Father Alleman: 'He had served the church as a missionary over Northern and Central Ohio, had said mass in a cabin in the center of a corn field where the City of Cleveland now stands, and upon arriving in the West he built himself a church and shanty where Fort Madison, la., now stands. From this place he usually traveled on foot, as I saw him for years, with a pair of saddle bags over his arm, in which were all his church equip- ments, all a missionary's conveniences for the celebrating of mass. Being of huge stature and in splendid health, he could cover in a morning on foot as much ground as an average horse. Wherever he heard there were a few Cath- olics he made them a visit. He covered all Northern Missouri and Southern Iowa ; then crossing the Mississippi he extended his missionary wanderings as far east as the Illinois River north to the Wisconsin line.' Again Father Larmer says : ' Father Alleman was a great scholar, with such a tenacious memory that he could, even when an old man, repeat all of the first book of Virgil's JEneid.' " Father Alleman remained in charge of the little stone church at Rock Island until 1856, and during this period he also conducted missions at Geneseo, Sheffield, Carbon Cliff, Minersville, Hampton, Rapids City, Port Byron, Coal Valley, Edgington and Keithsburg, in the Bureau, Henry, Mercer and Rock Island counties of today. As he advanced in years it was necessary to ap- point a younger man in his place. Rev. John P. Donelon was sent to St. James in 1856 and Father Alleman served as his faithful assistant. In 1864, largely through the efforts of the venerable missionary, the present handsome St. Mary's German Catholic church was completed. In that year Father Alleman retired to the house for aged Catholic priests at St. Louis, where he died in 1867, generally mourned and honored. The division of Rock Island Catholics into English and German-speaking organizations occurred in 1874; the Eng- lish-speaking members were organized as St. Joseph's Catholic, and the German- speaking, as St. Mary's. From the mother church have also sprung the Sacred Heart and Belgian Catholic churches, of Rock Island. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 339 MOLIXE CHTJBCHES Through the labors of Father Alleman, the Church of St. Anthony was founded at Moline in 185(5. Tlie year before, he had said mass in the house of Peter Dubuque, and several times during 1855 repeated Catholic services there. In 1856 he selected a site for a house of worship adjoining Mr. Dubuque's bouse on the north. The building was considered sufficiently completed dur- ing the following year to be opened to worshipers, although its w r alls were still unplastered and the seats were common boards nailed together without backs. This crude little frame building was dedicated in 1857 as the Church of St. Anthony. Father Alleman sometimes held services there, and when he said mass at Rock Island many of the Moline Catholics would walk thither to hear him. St. Mary's Church was formed from St. Anthony as late as 1878 and the school connected with it has been prospering for more than twenty-five years. The Belgian Catholic Church of East Moline was an off- shoot of St. Mary's of Moline and was formed in 1907. Thus has a surface survey of the Rock River Valley been made of its pioneer secular schools, both private and public, and of its popular and higher educational establishments. The earliest of its religious bodies have been por- trayed; the parenthood of the churches of today briefly designated. These uplifting institutions and influences have been cooperating with the parochial and Sunday schools of the denominational organizations, with thousands of other moral and spiritual agencies. These phases of the higher development of the people of the Rock River Valley are so manifold and so complex that they are set forth elsewhere in the histories of the twelve counties included in this history. Vol. 1—22 CHAPTER XV THE PRESS OP THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY NEWSPAPERS TYPICAL OF THE PEOPLE THE PRESS OF MADISON THE WISCONSIN ENQUIRER — JOSIAH A. NOONAN AND GEORGE HYER MADISON EXPRESS AND WIS- CONSIN STATE JOURNAL DAVID ATWOOD, SO LONG VENERABLE FATHER OF THE WISCONSIN PRESS OTHER MADISON NEWSPAPERS THE FOUNDING AND PROGRESS OF THE JANESVILLE GAZETTED — THE BELOIT FREE PRESS — PIONEER COLLEGE PUB- LICATION, THE ROUND TABLE — THE WATERTOWN RECORDER — THE ANZEIGER OF WATERTOWN BRINGS OUT CARL SCHURZ, THE FAMOUS GERMAN-AMERICAN TO-BE DER VOLKSZEITUNG FOUNDED THE JEFFERSON BANNER, — WISCONSIN CHIEF, FORT ATKINSON, ONE OF THE FIRST TEMPERANCE PAPERS ISSUED IN WISCONSIN — NEWSPAPERS OF BEAVER DAM, HORICON AND OTHER DODGE COUNTY TOWNS — OTHER CURRENT PUBLICATIONS OF DODGE, JEFFERSON, ROCK AND DANE COUNTIES, WIS. TWO OF ROCKFORD'S PIONEER NEWSPAPERS WRECKED BIRTH AND GROWTH OF THE REGISTER-GAZETTE — THE ROCKFORD MORNING STAR AND J. STANLEY BROWNE! HOW THE FREEPORT JOURNAL-STANDARD CAME TO EXIST EMANUEL AND JONATHAN KNODLE FOUND THE ROCK RIVER REGISTER AT MOUNT MORRIS — MOVED TO THE MORE PROMISING GRAND DETOUR — MOUNT MORRIS GAZETTE TRANS- FERRED TO OREGON STEPS TAKEN BEFORE THE INDEX WAS FOUNDED PRINTING AND PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE KABLE BROTHERS NEWSPAPERS OF POLO THE REPORTER AND REPUBLICAN OF OREGON ROCHELLE PRESS ESTABLISHED AT THE OLD TOWN OF LANE — THE BELVIDERE NEWSPAPERS THE NORTHWESTERN AND REPUBLICAN — THE DIXON TELEGRAPH AND OTHER PAPERS IN LEE COUNTY — WHITESIDE COUNTY'S FIRST NEWSPAPER, THE INVESTIGATOR, NOW THE FULTON JOURNAL ALBANY REVIEW THE STERLING GAZETTE — THE WHITESIDE SENTINEL AND CHARLES BENT THE TAMPICO TORNADO THE ECHO, OF PROPHETSTOWN KEWANEE NEWSPAPERS AND THE STAR-COURIER — THE GENESEO REPUBLICAN AND CAMBRIDGE CHRONICLE ROCK ISLAND NEWSPAPERS THE FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ROCK ISLAND BANNER AND STEPHENSON GAZETTE THE UPPER MISSISSIPPIAN AND ADVERTISER — THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS AND UNION SWEDISH-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS — ORGANS OF THE SECRET SOCIETIES AND IN- DUSTRIES THE MOLINE DISPATCH GAZETTE VAN MOLINE, UNIQUE FOREIGN PUB- LICATION PORT BYRON PUBLICATIONS, PAST AND PRESENT. The newspapers and other periodicals of the Rock River Valley broadly range from the political, thoughtful and even cultured press of Madison, Beloit and Rockford, stressed by university and collegiate influences, to the journalistic representatives of the industrial and workingmen's classes of Rock Island and the Mississippi region. Winnebago County, in its eruptions of ink and paper, covers both the broadcloth of the scholar and the jumper of the 340 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 341 industrial, while the sections of the Valley stretching: toward the Mississippi support many newspapers of substance and merit which are fine specimens of "country journalism"; and there is no branch of newspaperdom which calls for more tact, ability and perseverance, than that planted and nourished in the rural soil. THE WISCONSIN ENQUIRER, MADISON 'S FIRST NEWSPAPER Tn Madison, the seat of Wisconsin's capital and University, was planted some of the earliest and most vigorous newspapers of the Territory and State. The first to be established there was the Wisconsin Enquirer, the founder of which was Josiah A. Noonan, afterward one of the ablest and most eccentric democratic politicians in Milwaukee. He had bought a crude press and print- ing material in Buffalo and arranged to ship them to Madison by way of Green Hay; thence up the Fox River on barges to Fort Winnebago and from that point overland to the capital. The bill of shipment came, but weeks passed and no press or printing material followed. Then Mr. Noonan engaged George Hyer to mount a pony, start for Fort Winnebago and endeavor to trace the missing shipment. There was no road to cover the forty miles between Madi- son and Fort Winnebago, but Mr. Hyer reached his destination (as the pioneers had the habit of doing in those days) and learned that, during a storm in Lake Huron off Mackinaw, Noonan 's press and material had to be thrown overboard to lighten the laboring boat. So back to Madison and Mr. Noonan, Hyer went, and informed the waiting journalist of the calamity. Thereupon, Xoonan bought the Racine Argus and transferred it to Madison, with its hand press and font of type, and Hyer became his printer and pressman and general Utility man. He struck off the first number of the Wisconsin Enquirer on the 8th of November, 1838, and he was soon up to his neck in work printing hills, reports, journals of the General Assembly and revisions of the laws. In July, 1840, C. C. Sholes, of Kenosha, became joint proprietor of the Enquirer with Mr. Xoonan, the latter retiring from the paper in December, 1840. Both Mr. Xoonan and Mr. Sholes afterward moved to Milwaukee, where the former was long postmaster of the Cream City. Mr. Sholes was connected with the City Administration, but became best known as the inventor of the typewriter, which the Remingtons finally took over and from which they realized a fortune. George Hyer became proprietor of the Wisconsin Enquirer after Mr. Sholes left it, and is considered its real founder. OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ROCK RIVER VALLEY The Madison Express was the second newspaper to issue from Madison, which has endured to the present and which is the oldest periodical in the Rock River Valley, as it was the predecessor of the Wisconsin State Journal. The Express was first issued December 25, 1839, by William W. Wyman. It was published as a whig paper until May, 1848. It then suspended for a few months, when (in October, 1848) David Atwood and Royal Buck purchased the Express and continued its publication. In 1850, the Wisconsin States- man, a whig publication, was started in Madison, later the Palladium appeared, 342 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and in September, 1852, they were consolidated with the Express, and Mr. Atwood founded the Wisconsin State Journal as the result. DAVID ATWOOD For years afterward, David Atwood remained at the helm of the Journal and made it one of the most influential newspapers in "Wisconsin and the Northwest. During the late period of his life, both in appearance and in fact, Mr. Atwood held the uncontested position of the beloved patriarch of the Wisconsin press. Under him, Reuben G. Thwaites rose into literary notice and esteem, his record as secretary of the Wisconsin State Historical Society earning him a national prominence. OTHER MADISON NEWSPAPERS The Wisconsin Argus was started in Madison in April, 1844, and the Wisconsin Democrat in January, 1846. They were consolidated in June, 1852, and conducted by Beriah and S. D. Carpenter until 1859. In the same year the Argus and Democrat was revived by E. A. Calkins & Company, who in 1864 sold the plant to the State Journal. Mr. Calkins afterward moved to Milwaukee and as editor and proprietor of the News made a brilliant record as a democratic newspaper man. The Wisconsin Staats Zeitung, a widely known German weekly, was first issued from Madison in December, 1878. Besides the Wisconsin State Journal, there are several Madison publica- tions established at an early day, such as the Wisconsin Farmer, founded in 1848, and the Wisconsin Journal of Education, established in 1854. THE JANESVILLE GAZETTE Janesville and Beloit entered the journalistic field at an early day. The first number of the Janesville Gazette was issued by Alden & Stoddard on August 14, 1845. It flew the whig flag and afterward the republican, and has never lowered those colors in the prosecution of its editorial policies. Mr. Alden a few years afterward became sole proprietor of the Gazette, Mr. Stod- dard moving to Iowa, where he died in 1857. The morning edition was first issued in 1854. In 1864, A. M. Thomson and W. G. Roberts became identified with the Gazette, and afterward became prominent in the newspaperdom of Milwaukee, being identified with the Sentinel in their business and editorial connections for many years. In 1870, General James Bintliff headed the affairs of the Janesville Gazette and materially added to its standing. The Rock County Recorder was established in 1869, had a daily in opera- tion in 1878, but eventually fell by the wayside. THE BELOIT FREE PRESS AND ROUND TABLE Beloit had a number of newspapers which arose early, flourished with more or less vigor, and died. The Messenger, the first to be born and the first to THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 343 die, was founded by Cooley & Civer, in September, 1846. The Beloit Journal was allotted a longer life. It was established by Stokes & Briggs, as a whig newspaper, in June, 1848, and was finally absorbed by the Beloit Free Press, which had been started by Chambers Ingersoll in February, 1866. In Novem- ber, 1853, Beloit College issued the first number of its monthly publication now known as the Round Table. There have been many mergings to form this representative college journal, which is now one of the oldest periodicals of its kind in the Northwest. THE WATERTOWN RECORDER The citizens of Watertown had the honor of issuing some of the pioneer newspapers of the Rock River Valley ; especially were the Germans of that place active in establishing publications of their race. Early in April, 1846, J. A. Hadley bought some type from Orasmus Turner, editor and proprietor of the Niagara Democrat, published in Lockport, N. Y. He also picked up scraps of a newspaper outfit at Rochester, and in the spring of the following year collected all his material and, with his family, started for the raw settle- ment in the wilds of the Rock River. At that time, the site of Watertown was studded with stumps and the mud in its undefined streets was knee-deep. Mrs. Hadley told her newspaper husband that he was crazy to think of estab- lishing any kind of an institution in such a place; but Mr. Hadley was of another mind, went right ahead and on June 23, 1847, issued the first number of the Watertown Recorder, which, for some years monopolized the local field. Its first daily appeared in September, 1855. CARL SCHURZ ENTERS JOURNALISM From Watertown went forth a number of German editors, who afterward made reputations of national scope and one, at least, became one of the great public men of the United States. The Anzeiger was established at Watertown in the summer of 1853 by several men formerly connected with the Milwaukee Banner. Emil Rothe was its first editor and in 1857, when the proprietor of the Anzeiger became dissatisfied with his work, the position was offered to Carl Schurz. He was then a resident of Watertown, a highly educated young man of such liberal political views that he had been obliged to leave Germany a few years before. Schurz gravitated to Watertown, where so many of his countrymen were enrolling themselves as American republicans, and there com- menced his long and distinguished career in journalism and politics. Young Schurz remained with the Anzeiger but a short time, as its political views were not flexible enough to suit him. The Anzeiger was succeeded by the Welt- burger, which absorbed it and continues to this day. In the meantime (September, 1857), Der Volkszeitung had been founded and induced Carl Schurz and Herman Von Linderman to join it. It was radically republican, but suspended soon after the presidential election of 1860. Both Schurz and Linderman then went to St. Louis and joined the Westliche Post. Schurz, however, was to outgrow the German type of character. As a large figure in the Civil war, a United States senator, secretary of the interior 344 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and a leader in New York journalism, he became one of the greatest German- Americans of his time. Watertown therefore feels proud to have sent forth from its newspaper press Carl Schurz, the brave, able and polished man of German birth and true American spirit. GEORGE W. PECK, ONCE CONNECTED WITH THE JEFFERSON COUNTY REPUBLICAN Jefferson, the seat of justice of Jefferson County, established several news- papers in the '50s. The Jeffersonian, founded in 1851, lasted about ten years; the Republican, established in 1856, had a very brief existence. The Jefferson County Republican was founded in 1858, and George W. Peck, famous humor- ist of Milwaukee and subsequently governor of the State, once had an editorial connection with it. The Republican was rechristened the Jefferson Banner in 1860. FIRST TEMPERANCE PAPER PUBLISHED IN WISCONSIN The press of Fort Atkinson is chiefly noted as having produced one of the first temperance papers published in "Wisconsin. In the early '50s, Thur- low Weed Brown, who published and edited the Cayuga Chief, a temperance paper at Geneva, N. Y., visited Chicago to attend a temperance convention held in that city. He passed several weeks in the Rock River Valley, being especially taken with the Fort Atkinson region. Having decided to locate there, he returned, brought his newspaper outfit from Geneva, and established the Wisconsin Chief at Fort Atkinson, getting out its first issue on October 15, 1856. After his death, the paper was published and edited by his sister, Emma Brown. Farther up the Valley, at Beaver Dam, several pioneer newspapers had been established. The Weekly Badger was first issued by A. G. Hoag in September, 1848, but the presswork and a portion of the typesetting were done by the Watertown Chronicle. The Beaver Dam paper was a stanch Democratic organ and a supporter of Van Buren. The Beaver Dam Republican was also a democratic paper founded in March, 1853, and later became the organ of the new republican party, under the pro- prietorship of N. V. Chandler. The Sentinel was afterward established, as well as a monthly literary magazine called the Western World. The con- solidation of these ventures brought out the Dodge County Citizen April 18, 1856. It was a republican organ as we define the party term today. The Horicon Argus, founded in August, 1854, was, before its removal to Beaver Dam, edited by the eccentric M. M. Pomeroy, who afterward estab- lished Pomeroy's Democrat at La Crosse. The Fox Lake Times, and the Fox Lake Journal were issued at about this time, and the Waupun Times first ap- peared in 1857. OTHER NEWSPAPERS IN SOUTHERN WISCONSIN Besides these very early newspapers established in the Roek River Valley of Wisconsin, there are many others of later date and substantial status. The record of their establishment, virtually up to date, is as follows : THE ROCK BIVEB \ r ALLEY 345 Dodge County: Beaver Dam Argus, I860; Fox Lake Representative, 1866; Boricon Reporter, 1881; Juneau Independent, 1893; Lomira Review, 1903; Mayville Pioneer, 1876; Mayville News, 1892; Randolph Advance, 1893; Reese- ville Review, 1889. Jefferson County: Fort Atkinson Democrat, 1904; Hoard's Dairymen, 1870; Jefferson County, Union, 1870; Juneau Independent, 1893; Lake Mills Leader, 1878; Palmyra Enterprise, 1874; Waterloo Courier, 1885; Black and Red i Northwestern College), Watertown; Bruder Botschafter (German), Water- town, 1866; Watertown Gazette, 1879; Watertown Times, 1895. Rock County: Beloit News, 1885; Rock County Banner, Clinton, 1888; Times-Observer, Clinton, 1923 ; Edgerton Eagle, 1901 ; Wisconsin Tobacco Re- porter, Edgerton, 1874; Evansville Review, 1866; Janesville Independent, 1901; Orfordville Journal, 1908. Dane County: Cambridge News, 1885; Deerfield News, 1899; De Forest Times, 1895; American Thresh erman, Madison, 1898; Banker-Farmer, Madi- son, 1913; Campaigner (prohibition), Madison, 1913; Capital Times, Madison, 1917: Cardinal (collegiate), 1892; Commerce Magazine (course in commerce), L919; Country Magazine (students in College of Agriculture), 1905; La Fol- lette's Magazine, Madison, 1909 ; Monumental News (Allied Arts Publishing Com- pany i, Madison, 1889; Parks, Cemeteries and Lands, Madison, 1891; Tractor and Gas Engine Review, Madison, 1908 ; Wisconsin Beekeeping, Madison, 1924 ; Wisconsin Alumni Magazine, Madison, 1899; Wisconsin Blade (negro), 1916; Wisconsin Botschafter (German), Madison, 1869; Wisconsin Congregational Church Life, 1894, Madison, 1896; Wisconsin Engineering Monthly, Madison, 1896; Wisconsin Farm Bureau News, Madison, 1922; Wisconsin Horticultural Monthly, Madison, 1910; Wisconsin Leader (Non-Partisan League), Madison, 1920 ; Wisconsin Literary Magazine, Madison, 1903 ; Wisconsin Magazine, Madi- son, 1923 ; Wisconsin Magazine of History, Madison, 1917 ; Wisconsin Octopus (students' humorous magazine), Madison, 1920; Mazomanie Sickle, 1874; Mid- dleton Times-Herald, ; Journal-Telephone, Milton Junction, 1879; Mor- risonville Tribune, 1903; Mt. Horeb Mail, ; Mt. Horeb Times, 1892; Oregon Observer, 1880; Waunakee Tribune, 1911. rockford 's pioneer newspapers wrecked When Rockford was a village of three or four hundred inhabitants, on the 5th of May, 1840, its radical whigs welcomed the Rock River Express, edited by B. J. Gray. Its primary purpose was to promote the presidency of Wil- liam Henry Harrison, and when its idol went into the White House, the whig organ collapsed. In the summer of 1840, the Rockford Star twinkled for a time in the journalistic heavens. Its editor was Philander Knappen, who injudiciously criticised the shooting of the Driscolls by a band of enraged citizens for the murder of John Campbell, captain of the "regulators." Soon afterward the office of the Star was entered, the type scattered and the press disabled, and Editor Knappen so reduced to impotency that he abandoned his newspaper. The Rockford Pilot was erected on the ruins of the Star, and was issued and edited by John A. Brown, from July, 1841, to October, 1842. It was a 346 THE KOCK RIVER VALLEY democratic paper and as the local party went under in the fall, including the editor himself, who was defeated for representative of the Legislature, its main support failed. BIRTH AND GROWTH OF THE REGISTER-GAZETTE In February, 1843, J. Ambrose Wight commenced the publication of a whig paper under the name of the Winnebago Forum, and it is said that mate- rial from the wrecked Star was also used in printing the Forum. The paper was afterward christened the Rockford Forum and the Republican. In the meantime the Rockford Register had been founded by E. C. Daugherty, as an anti-slavery publication. In 1862 he purchased the Republican of the Blais- dell brothers. The Rock River Democrat, which had been founded in 1852, by Benjamin Holt, was merged into the Register management in 1865, and the consolidated properties passed into the hands of a joint stock company. In October, 1877, the Rockford Daily Register was started upon a permanent basis by N. D. Wright and C. L. Miller. The Rockford Gazette, which had been founded as a small advertising sheet in 1866, had grown to a well estab- lished daily by August, 1879, and in January, 1891, it was merged with the Register as the Register-Gazette. By these consolidations and mergings, brought about by -energetic and wise management, the Register-Gazette has reached a high standing in the newspaper field of the Rock River Valley. THE ROCKFORD MORNING STAR AND J. STANLEY BROWNE The Rockford Morning Star was the first successful morning newspaper published in the city. In the spring of 1887, a joint stock company was formed for its publication and the first number issued on March 20th. J. Stanley Browne, a New York man of public standing, was an editor of the Star from its inception until his death in 1915. The Republican was founded in the spring of 1890, in 1893 a daily edition was issued and in 1896 the name of the paper was changed to the Republic. The Catholic Monthly was established in 1909 and the Labor News in 1913. The Rockford Furniture Journal, which was founded in 1888 and after- ward moved to Chicago, was the pioneer in the establishment of a number of trade and industrial publications. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made to supply the Swedes of Rockford with representative publications. The Svenska Posten, founded in 1889, is still published. The Germania, established for the benefit of the Germans, in 1885, is also in the field of foreign publications. Among the outside newspapers in Winnebago County are instanced: The Pecatonica News, founded in 1872 ; Rockton Herald, 1875 ; Winnebago Reflector, 1887 ; Durand Gazette, 1907. HOW THE FREEPORT JOURNAL-STANDARD CAME TO EXIST Freeport, as one of the most promising towns in the Rock River Valley, enjoyed an early influx of newspaper men. Its first newspaper was the Prairie Democrat, started in November, 1847, by Thomas J. Turner, to further his THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 347 political ambitious as representative of his congressional district. The Bulletin was born the same year to further the prospects of the village itself. In November, 1848, H. G. Grattau came from Janesville, where he had been con- nected with the Gazette, and established a whig newspaper at Freeport called the Journal. Both the Bulletin and the Journal continued their journalistic lives, the former commencing to issue a daily edition in September, 1877. Then the Freeport Standard appeared in 1887, and they all were published regularly up to the time of their consolidation some years ago. The result was the Journal-Standard, a firmly established representative of all phases of the city's activities. Outside of Freeport, in Stephenson County, are the following publications: Star, Lena, founded in 1866; Courier, Orangeville, 1884; News, Pearl City, 1889 ; Register, Window, 1896. THE KNODLE BROTHERS FOUND THE ROCK RIVER REGISTER From the time that Mount Morris was foreordained to be a center of educa- tion and intellectual progress by the establishment there of the Rock River Seminary, in 1839-40, it required no keen American prophet to foretell that such soil would also breed newspaper adventurers; and the men who were to start the progeny were Marylanders who were forming the settlement around the seminary which w r as afterward to be Mount Morris. The story of their venture is told by the Kable brothers in their history of Mount Morris, issued some twenty-five years ago, in these words : ' ' The great esteem in which all educational interests were held by the first settlers of Ogle County is evi- denced by the fact that when the country was almost a wilderness the corner stone of Old Sandstone, or Rock River Seminary, was laid — on the fourth day of July, 1839. Consequently, it was generally thought in the East that among a people so thoroughly imbued with the importance of educational advantages, a newspaper would find a ready support, but this estimate, as the sequel will show, proved a serious mistake to the projectors of the first newspaper venture in Mount Morris. The principals in this enterprise were Jonathan and Emanuel Knodle, of Washington County, Md., the former as publisher and the latter as editor of the proposed paper. These gentlemen purchased the press and materials with which a small paper entitled the Casket was printed at Boons- boro, Md., and on the 16th day of July, 1841, the former accompanied by his family, with their household goods and said printing outfit, set out in wagons for Mount Morris. "When they arrived at Wheeling, W. Va., finding their loads too heavy to be drawn by the teams, the press and printing material were shipped thence by boat around to Savanna, 111. "In a letter dated Peoria, 111., October 27, 1841, Emanuel Knodle wrote to his brother Samuel in the East: 'We found it necessary to go to St. Louis for some type, rules, composing sticks, etc. When I left Mount Morris on the 25th, we had not yet heard of our press and type, but think that by this time they should have come around to Savanna.' A later letter shows that the press, etc., were received from Peru, instead of Savanna. The water being low in the Mississippi, the boats could not ascend as far as Savanna. Decem- ber 8th the outfit was moved into a house built west of the Seminary property 348 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY by Samuel McFarland during the spring previous." This house, representing the first printing office in Ogle County, stood until 1900. During the re- mainder of December, 1841, Emanuel and Jonathan Knodle, and others, were hard at work sorting and cleaning the material after its long journey by land and water. Composition rollers had also to be made and many other articles supplied, and to crown all their difficulties the bed of the press was broken when the attempt was made to put it in place. The press was known as the Ramage and is said to have been nearly the style of that used by Benjamin Franklin which is now in the National Museum at Washington. All obstacles in the way of the enterprise were at length overcome, and on January 1, 1842, the first number of the Rock River Register was issued from its little frame office and distributed to its patrons. It was a small five- column sheet, printed one page at a time on a very inferior quality of paper. Its motto, suggested by Rev. T. S. Hitt, was "We hope to be recognized as fellow laborers in the noble work of enlightening the human mind." During the April following its establishment, Emanuel Knodle died, and in September the Register was moved to Grand Detour because of the poor mail service at Mount Morris. It eventually ceased publication after a career of less than two years. OTHER NEWSPAPERS OP OGLE COUNTY Seven years passed after the failure of the Register before anyone had sufficient courage to try another newspaper enterprise in Ogle County; but when J. Frederick Grosh and Tomlinson Ankney brought from Rockford the material by which the defunct Free Press of that place had been printed and started the Gazette at Mount Morris, they set in motion a continuous line of newspapers in the county. Professor D. J. Pinckney was the editor of the Mount Morris Gazette, the first number of which was issued in March, 1850. It was moved to Oregon within a year, reissued as the Ogle County Gazette, afterward returned to Mount Morris and was finally moved to Savanna. The Northwestern Republican, started in 1856 under the management of Samuel Knodle, became the Independent Watchman and passed through other transformations before it reappeared at Polo, during the first year of the Civil war, as the Ogle County Press. Then Mr. Knodle conducted a growing job printing office at Mount Morris which well advertised the town, and in 1876 founded the Independent, which was sold in the following year to John Sharer, who changed its name to the Ogle County Democrat. Within the following decade, it was established under another name at Oregon. Finally, the entire outfit was brought back to Mount Morris by Mr. Sharer and sold to Charles T. Coggins, who, in July, 1890, founded the Index — still a live publication. It was made a pronounced success by H. J. and H. G. Kable, who obtained possession of the plant in 1898. PRINTING AND PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE KABLE BROTHERS Harry G. and Harvey J. Kable are twin brothers, natives of Carroll County, 111., and immediately after graduating from Mount Morris College bought the THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 349 Index, placed it on its feet, and then established one of the largest printing and publication houses in Northern Illinois. A. H. Rittenhouse was orig- inally in partnership with the Kable Brothers Company. The numerous period- icals issued by this house have given Mount Morris a prominent standing as a printing and publishing center. Among others may be noted: The Mystic Worker, 1896; Official Commercial Travelers Guide, 1916; Post Office Clerk, 1901; Poultry Tribune, 1895; Pythian Guest (Pythian Sisters), 1889; and Woodman Recorder, 1906. There are other publications put forth from the house of the Kable Brothers, with imprints giving Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, South Bend and Omaha as cities of publication. NEWSPAPERS OF POLO, OREGON AND ROCHELLE Polo established its first newspaper in the spring of 1857, under the name of the Transcript, and in May of the following year Henry R. Boss took what was left of its plant to get out the first number of the Advertiser. Mr. Boss made a good paper of the Advertiser, but sold out in December, 1860, and moved to Chicago, where for a number of years he was employed by the Tribune. The Advertiser is claimed as the progenitor of Polo's Tri-County Press. Its youngest newspaper is the Ogle County Farmer, which was born in 1922. When the Mount Morris Gazette temporarily suspended in the spring of 1851, the plant, or rather printing material, was purchased by R. C. Burchell, of Oregon. He brought it to that place and established the Ogle County Gazette, afterward the Reporter, which still exists. The Reporter was at first neutral in politics, but in 1856 it supported the newly organized republican party and since then has never deviated from its allegiance. The newspaper out of which has grown the Ogle County Republican originated with B. B. Bemis, by whom it was issued as the Ogle County Local. In 1894 it became the Local Advocate and shortly afterward the Republican. R. P. Lane, a Rockford capitalist, gave his name to the town which pre- ceded Rochelle, and the early newspapers of the place were christened accord- ingly. The Lane Leader was first issued in the fall of 1858 and the Lane Patriot three years later. Professor James A. Butterfield, editor of the latter, was a musician of some note and wrote a number of popular songs. "When You and I Were Young, Maggie,'' was his greatest hit as a song writer. In July, 1863, the Lane Register was first issued by E. L. Otis, who had moved from Rockford for that purpose. When the name of the village was changed in 186", it became the Rochelle Register, under which style it has since been published. It has generally been republican in politics. In December, 1897, diaries A. and Fred E. Lux founded the Rochelle Independent. The News was established in 1921. The Forreston Journal began its publication in April, 1867, and the Herald was started in 1878. The latter was afterward moved to Mount Morris, where it was published by the Kable Brothers Company under the style of the Ogle County Review -Herald. The Byron Express was founded in 1878 by Ervin & Hewitt. Besides being a thorough local paper, it publishes two editions in neighboring towns — the Mirror, at Leaf River, and the Graphic, at Stillman Vallev. 350 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE PRESS OF BELVIDERE The first Belvidere Republican (Whig) Avas commenced in 1847 by J. W. Snow, who brought press and type from Woodstock, McHenry County. It lived until 1849, when it succumbed to fast accumulating debts, like most ventures of the sort. Whereupon an old-time writer of Boone County com- ments : " It is a notorious fact that more money and time are lost in the attempt to establish newspapers in new country towns than in almost any other undertaking. And this in face of the fact that no other agency can be made so useful in presenting the advantages, or made so potent in advancing local interests, as a well conducted newspaper." Then, almost pathetically: "But we are writing history. The last number of the Republican was printed on brown paper." The Republican was succeeded by the Belvidere Standard in 1851, and its manager and proprietor, Ralph Roberts, became one of the leading republicans of the State. During the following sixteen years other newspaper ventures were launched and sunk, the Standard being by far the most substantial, and in the '70s being considered one of the most influential journals in Northern Illinois. The Northwestern was commenced in January, 1867, by E. H. Talbot, and in 1870 was purchased by R. W. Coon. In 1892, the second Belvidere Republican was established and is still alive and flourishing. It is an evening daily (except Sunday) and its weekly edition is the old Northwestern. The Republican is the only daily newspaper published in Boone County; in fact, there is only one paper published outside of Belvidere, the Nutshell, of Capron, which has been issued only since 1921. THE DIXON TELEGRAPH AND OTHER LEE COUNTY PAPERS Lee County centered in Dixon for many years and it is natural that its first newspaper should be issued from the county seat. Its pioneer was the Dixon Telegraph and Lee County Herald, with Charles R. Fisk as publisher and Benjamin F. Shaw, editor. Several generations of Shaws have since been identified with the Dixon Telegraph, as it was subsequently known. It is now issued every evening except Sunday. The Franklin Reporter was started in Franklin Grove in 1868. Paw Paw gave birth to a number of newspapers in the late '70s. The Herald first appeared in 1877, and in March of the fol- lowing year it was succeeded by the Lee County Times. Other papers were started in the late '70s and the early '80s, but the Lee County Times was the only one which had the preservative and staying qualities, and is yet firmly planted. The Ashton Gazette has been published since 1895. WHITESIDE COUNTY'S EARLIEST NEWSPAPERS In the days when Fulton and Albany, above Rock Island, promised to be booming river towns, and were also looking eastward for railroad connections with the Iowa country across the Mississippi, those reckless newspaper men, as was their custom, flocked into the borderland of what is now Whiteside County in order to be early in the field. During the early period of 1853, THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 351 Judge James McCoy and .John Phelps ('(included that Fulton needed a news- paper, and in the fall of the year went to St. Louis and Galena and bought a press and type (hoth metal and wood) Avith which to start the newspaper and a job office. The press was shipped so late in the season that the steamer which carried it had to go into winter quarters at Rock Island, on account of the ice. It was not until the spring of 1854, therefore, that the outfit was on the ground. Judge McCoy could expound law and Mr. Phelps could sell goods, but neither knew anything about the practical work of getting out a newspaper, of printing hand bills and letter heads. So they imported A. Mc- Fadden, a practical printer, from Freeport, and in May, 1854, he put out the Investigator, the first newspaper issued in Whiteside County. It was pub- lished in a two-story brick building, erected expressly for a printing office by Messrs. McCoy and Phelps, and soon afterward Mr. McFadden purchased the plant and formed a partnership with G. A. Laighton. Mr. Laighton after- ward became postmaster, gave his attention more to politics than to news- paper work, and the Investigator was suspended after a fitful career of about two years. In 1859, G. J. Booth leased the sleeping Investigator, commenced the publication of the Fulton Weekly Courier, and in. 1863 changed the name of the paper to the Fulton Journal, under which style it has been published until the present. In July, 1854, Charles Boynton revived the Albany Herald, a newspaper which had been feebly struggling for several weeks, but though he is said to have issued a creditable weekly, he was able to float it only until December, when he moved his office to Sterling and commenced the publication of the Times. Half a dozen other unsuccessful attempts were made to found news- papers at Albany. None resulted in the establishment of a substantial enter- prise until the Review was founded in 1899. THE STERLING TIMES The first number of Mr. Boynton 's Sterling Times was issued on the 7th of December, 1854, and in his salutatory he makes the following suggestive remarks: "Our paper is small, but it is young; and if it is so fortunate as to meet with its proper nourishment we see no reason why it will not very shortly be able to stand in the same crowd with its more portly neighbors. The location is one of the best, in one of the best counties in the best State, with immense undeveloped agricultural resources. "Within the range of our vision lies the dormant water power which would put in motion as many fac- tories as now stud the Merrimac, and a virgin soil that will yield twice as much as would feed the operatives. We have waited long for the slow and gradual development of the resources of this country; have grated corn on a lantern for our daily bread, and more than once followed the trail to the Garden City, sounding the depths of every slough, and wading through miles of water." Then the country between Sterling and Chicago was as unsightly and forbidding as the city at the foot of Lake Michigan which, like a mud turtle, often struggled to get its head in the sunshine. Under Mr. Boynton, the Times was neutral in politics, but under the other proprietors who succeeded him its creed and policies radically changed. 352 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE STERLING GAZETTE In the winter of 1857-58, H. G. Grattan, who had previously purchased the press and material of the defunct Times, started the Sterling Gazette. He afterward formed a partnership with William Caffrey, who during the previous year had commenced the publication of the Republican for the special purpose of advocating the election of John C. Fremont to the presidency. The con- solidated name of Republican and Gazette continued for but a short time and, Mr. Grattan having previously withdrawn from the firm, Mr. Caffrey continued the publication of the Sterling Gazette, the Republican having been dropped from the title of the paper. There were other journalistic ventures, such as the Whiteside Chronicle in 1868 and the Sterling Clear Grit in 1877, but the Gazette is the one which has endured. It is now an evening paper, published daily except Sunday. THE WHITESIDE SENTINEL AND CHARLES BENT The City of Morrison and a large tributary country are warmly support- ing what has long ago ceased to be an "enterprise"; for The Sentinel has been firmly established these many years faithfully conserving the interests of the region roundabout. In 1857, the new town of Morrison, which had been located with the coming of the railroad in the fall of 1855, was beginning to develop and began to look around for the inevitable newspaper. Its anxious citizens had not long to wait, for their invitation to Alfred McFadden, who was then editing the Fulton Investigator, to try his fortunes with an interior community, was accepted, and on the 23rd of July, 1857, backed by the finan- cial support and good will of the community, the newspaper man from Fulton issued the first number of the Whiteside Sentinel, a six-column four-page pub- lication. With the exception of one year, Mr. McFadden continued its publica- tion for a decade. In July, 1867, the Sentinel was purchased by Charles Bent and Maurice Savage, who published it until May, 1870, when Mr. Bent be- came its sole proprietor. Mr. Bent became identified with the Whiteside Sentinel the year after he was mustered out of military service as a lieutenant in the 147th Illinois Infantry, which was one of the last in the State to be disbanded. For about eighteen months in 1877-79, while he was engaged in the prepara- tion and publication of a History of Whiteside County, the Sentinel was con- ducted by Robert W. Welch, of New York, but at the conclusion of that period he repurchased the paper. Since that time the Whiteside Sentinel has been continuously owned and conducted either by Mr. Bent, or his son, Charles Bent, Jr., the latter having sole charge of it during the absence of the father as United States pension agent at Chicago, and for a number of years past. The senior editor and proprietor is living in partial retirement from the active labors of his profession, and the editors and publishers of this work have been fortunate in securing his cooperation as an adviser of long and honored resi- dence in the lower Rock River Valley. The standing of Whiteside County as an agricultural section of the State is emphasized by the founding of a periodical devoted to such interests called the Whiteside County Farmer, first issued in 1921. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 353 THE TAMPICO TORNADO A few miles east of Prophetstown and southeast of the Rock River is the little village of Tampieo. Fire and flood have tried in vain to wipe out the town, but it has risen above them both. Hardly had the railroad reached the few buildings known as Tampieo post office before its hotel and another structure were burned, and two years afterward the flames swept over most of its en- larged site. A few months later, in June, 1874, a tornado swept over Tampieo leaving scarcely anything behind except ruin and maimed people of the vil- lage. The outside territory was virtually untouched. Nearly two years later, Messrs. Hill & Gifford, gave the plucky Tampieo a newspaper. They called it the Tampieo Tornado. Although they printed it in Prophetstown, they were not to entirely escape the scourge that seemed to pursue the town of their rhoice; for two weeks after the first number of the Tornado had been issued a fire again swept through the business portion of Tampieo and burned every- thing in the newspaper office. But neither the town nor the newspaper could be squelched, and the Tornado has been published since about 1877 in the village of Tampieo. Prophetstown has been the field of considerable newspaper tillage. Im- mediately after the railroad had been completed to that point, the settlers around the station had invited A. D. Hill and Charles Bent to establish a newspaper in their midst. After receiving some aid from the citizens, these gentlemen did as they were asked and on the 2d of September, 1871, issued the first number of the Prophetstown Spike. At the end of the year Mr. Hill h'vame sole proprietor, conducted it altogether for about twelve years and made a good local newspaper of it. Its successor was the Echo, established by William Wilson in 1892, and still in the land of living newspapers. KEWANEE NEWSPAPERS AND THE STAR-COURIER Henry County, naturally bound to the lower Rock River Valley by the Green River and artificially by a thick network of rails, has always been fa- vorite soil for the expansion of the Third Estate. The Dial was its first news- paper and was originally issued from Kewanee, the year after it was platted, to advertise this station on the Military Tract Railroad. J. H. Howe was its first editor. It was soon afterward purchased by C. Bassett, who figured prom- inently in local journalism. In 1870, he bought the Kewanee Radical and started the Advertiser, subsequently, the Independent. The Kewanee Courier was established in March, 1876, by C. N. Whitney, who brought an outfit from Princeton, Bureau County. The Star-Courier, of which Mr. Whitney's publication was the originator, was first issued as a daily (evening paper, except Sunday) in 1894. Leo H. Lowe, who is both editor and proprietor of the daily and the weekly Star-Courier, is one of the veteran newspaper men of the Rock River Valley and is a valued cooperator on our Reference and Advisory Board. Of late years, it has become more and more evident that the expanding industrial classes should have a mouthpiece to expound and exploit their interests, and in 1920 this need was met by the establishment of the Kewanee Labor Bulletin. 354 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE GENESEO REPUBLICAN AND CAMBRIDGE CHRONICLE Outside of Kewanee, those old ambitious rivals for the county seat, soon after the Dial was hung before the public, brought to bear the artillery of type upon the questions which agitated the people of the early days. In 1856, the Geneseo Republican was established, and the Cambridge Chronicle followed closely in its wake some time during 1858. Despite their age, they are still good local representatives of newspaperdom. After them, in other sections of Henry County, came these, in succession : Orion Times, 1877 ; Woodhull Dispatch and Galva News, 1879 ; Alpha Advance, 1902 ; Atkinson News, 1914. ROCK ISLAND NEWSPAPERS, PIONEERS OF THE VALLEY Rock Island gave birth to the first newspapers published in the Rock River Valley. The Rock Island Banner and Stephenson Gazette was issued from a little office near the ferry landing by a young Irish printer, who had come from Paoli, Ind., where his father had been waving the Torch Light. At the time that Henry C McGrew set up his newspaper plant in Rock Island, he had no competitor nearer than Galena, Peoria and Springfield. The Rock Island Valley was clear of the smell of printer's ink in 1839, when young McGrew unfurled his Banner. At first he conducted a neutral paper, and made the mistake of taking his stand as a democrat in a whig community right in the heat of the political campaign of 1840. The paper did not long survive the storm of opposition which assailed it, and in the fall of 1841 Mr. McGrew moved his concern to Galena and commenced the publication of the Sentinel. The Upper Mississippian commenced to replace the Banner and Gazette, in the fall of 1840, as it was frankly whig and was published simultaneously in Stephenson, Rock Island County, 111., and Davenport, Scott County, Iowa Territory. Daniel Crist appears to have been first responsible for it, with John G. Powars as its financial backer. In 1844, after suffering some reverses, it was taken over by Harmon G. Reynolds, who changed the name to the Upper Mississippian and Rock Island Republican and its politics from whig to demo- cratic. Mr. Reynolds was an able lawyer and afterward judge and postmaster, but could not save his newspaper venture from the rocks, and it went down to the customary limbo of journalism in 1847. "When the Upper Mississippian passed into the hands of the democratic Reynolds, the whigs again came to the front with a newspaper organ, and in November, 1845, issued it under the name of the Northwestern Advertiser. At the organization, of the Republican party in 1856, the Advertiser came to the support of the new political organization, but was discontinued in the spring of 1858. COL. J. B. DANFORTH AND THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS AND UNION The Democrats of the Rock Island region were without a newspaper from 1847 until 1851, but in the fall of the latter year came Fred S. Nichols and THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 355 John W. Dunham, from the St. Louis Intelligencer. Their employer sold them sufficient second-hand material for the publication of the Republican, the dem- ocratic paper so craved by the people of Rock Island. Mr. Nichols was a northerner; Mr. Dunham, a southerner. Mr. Nichols so harped upon Mr. Dun- ham's windy English that there was a split in the partnership. Mr. Dunham withdrew, and in November, 1852, J. B. Danforth, Jr., bought a half interest in the Republican, which was soon increased to a complete proprietorship. In that year he was appointed to the military staff of the governor of Illinois, and for fifty years Colonel Danforth was one of the most notable editorial characters in the Rock River Valley. On July 13, 1854, he established the Daily Republican, the first daily newspaper published in the Valley. It was launched as an evening publication, but on December 17, 1855, was changed to a morning paper. About this time its name was changed from the Re- publican to the Rock Island Argus. For a time the Argus was merged with a paper known as the Rock Islander, and retained a double head for two years while Colonel Danforth was roaming the high seas as a purser in the United States Navy. When he returned he dropped the Rock Islander, having resumed control of the newspaper. In the meantime, Moline had found itself as a newspaper town. The Work- man, an industrial and anti-slavery publication, was established in August, 1854. Robert H. Graham (afterward Colonel Graham) and Alfred Webster bought the paper in 1857 and changed its name to the Moline Independent. .Mr. Graham became a leading local figure in the Civil war and the Independent fell to his brother-in-law, J. A. Huck, who in October, 1862, moved the paper to Rock Island. In the following month, Mr. Huck commenced the publica- tion of the Rock Island Weekly and Daily Union. As the purpose of this chapter is to trace the beginnings and the broad lines of newspaper development in the Rock River Valley, it is beyond its aim to follow in detail the development of the Argus and the Union until they were consolidated. The Argus and Union is now the leading publication in the lower Rock River Valley. SWEDISH-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS The strength of the Swedish-Americans in Rock Island County is well shown in the number and substantial support of their periodicals. The Au- gustana, the organ of the Swedish Lutheran Synod, was founded as early as 1855; the Lutheran Companion was established in 1892; the Augustana Observer, the magazine of the Augustana College, in 1902, and the Missions Tiding, issued in Swedish and English, by the Woman's Missionary Society of the synod, in 1906. A number of the secret and benevolent societies also have flourishing publishing houses in Rock Island; among others, the Royal Neigh- bors, established in 1898, and the Modern Woodmen, in 1883. In 1910, the Tri-City Labor Review was first issued from the Industrial Home at Rock Island. It supplanted the Tri-City Unionist, which was a monthly published in Davenport, Iowa, and represents the allied union trades of Rock Island, Moline and Davenport. Vol. 1—28 356 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE MOLINE DISPATCH The Moline Dispatch of the present day had its origin in the Review, estab- lished in November, 1870. It labored along under changing management until B. F. Tillinghast obtained possession of it in May, 1872, and it was largely through his executive and editorial ability that the paper was placed strongly upon its feet. In 1878, it was consolidated with the Dispatch, which had been established in July of that year as a daily. The Review-Dispatch was the weekly edition of the Dispatch until 1912, when it was discontinued. In July, 1885, Dean Brothers, proprietors of the Dispatch, sold the newspaper to P. S. McGlynn and John K. Groom. Mr. Groom sold his interests to W. F. East- man, who, at his death in 1909, had been serving for three years as postmaster of Moline. Mr. Eastman's interest in the Dispatch was purchased from the estate in 1912 by John Sundine, who became business manager of the Moline Dispatch Publishing Company. Of late years, Mr. McGlynn has been some- what retired from the business and editorial management of the Dispatch, but his connection of forty years with its progress has enrolled him among the most prominent and successful veterans of the profession in the Rock River Valley; and he is another of the strong men identified with the prepara- tion of this history. UNIQUE MOLINE WEEKLY In November, 1907, a unique weekly was established in Moline. The Gazette van Moline is the only newspaper in the United States published in the interest of Belgian and Dutch citizens in the Flemish language, which is understood by both these peoples. It is a general newspaper and independent politically. Connected with it is also a large job office. PORT BYRON PUBLICATIONS Port Byron was at one time believed to be a growing town in Rock Island County, and in 1857 a civil engineer started a newspaper at that place. It fell and the Times arose in 1859, and after the lapse of many years (1875* the Port Byron Weekly found courage to lift its head. The weekly floundered around politically and financially and the Pilot did the same. The Port Byron Globe has been making its appearance since October, 1880. In October, 1894, the Press attempted to live at Aledo, but had to be moved over to Reynolds before it would stay planted; which was in January, 1896. Milan made four attempts to establish newspapers before its current journal, the Independent, was issued in May, 1902. Its only other publication is the Rail Splitters, a prohibition monthly, established in 1915. So that Rock Island County may be called a newspaper field of trials, tribulations and triumphs, and is fairly characteristic of the journalistic at- mosphere in the Valley and in the United States of America. CUAPTEK XVI THE VALLEY IN FOUR WARS THE MEXICAN WAH — ILLINOIS IN THE ' CIVIL WAR — THE VALLEY REGIMENTS — THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY OF WISCONSIN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR THE THIRD AND SIXTH REGIMENTS — ILLINOIS' PARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD WAR — THE TIllliTY-TIIIRD DIVISION AT THE FRONT — THE 123RD HEAVY FIELD ARTILLERY — ■ THE SINEWS OF WAK — WISCONSIN ENTERS THE WORLD WAB — THIRTY-SECOND DIVISION AT THE FRONT — THE HOME DEFENSES — THE WISCONSIN STATE GUARD — WAR FUND CONTRIBUTIONS^ — THE COLLEGE WAR SPIRIT. Although the Rock River Valley was represented to some extent in the four regiments and independent companies of the Illinois Mounted Volunteers which participated in the .Mexican war of 1846-48, the enlistments were so scattered as to be hardly worthy of note. The strength of the American forces drawn from Illinois was largely dependent upon the older and more populous counties farther smith and east. Of course, many of those who were prominent in the Black Hawk war, like Taylor and Davis, reappeared as leaders in the war with Mexico, hut the Rock River Valley cannot claim them as residents. Colonel John Dement, one of the outstanding figures of the war with Black Hawk, was a resident of Dixon and a public office holder at the time of the Mexican war. THE MEXICAN WAR War was declared May 13, 1846, and less than two weeks afterward Gov- ernor Thomas Ford (whom the Rock River Valley does proudly claim) issued his proclamation calling for the enlistment of three twelve-months regiments, the assessed quota of the State. Alton was named as the rendezvous. A fourth regiment of men enlisted for a year was subsequently added. Then followed the fifth regiment, known officially as the First Regiment Illinois Volunteers During the War, and the sixth regiment also mustered into the service for the period of the war as well as several companies of independent mounted volun- teers and about 150 volunteers who joined the Fourteenth and Sixteenth United States Infantry regiments. The Third and Fourth regiments won especial dis- tinction at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo and the City of Mexico. The Second Regi- ment, originally organized as a twelve-months unit with William II. Bissell (afterward governor), colonel, was reorganized in August, 1847, "for the period of the war." At that time many of the young men of Belvidere joined the regi- ment, in which William Shepard was captain of Company E. The mortality among this comparatively small contingent was noticeable, about forty of the hoys leaving their bodies in Mexican soil, several of the deaths occurring as late 357 358 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY as May, 1848. All the Illinois troops were mustered out between May 25, 1847. and November 7, 1848, the independent companies being the last to quit service. ILLINOIS IN THE CIVIL WAR Of the 250,000 soldiers whom Illinois sent to the battlefields of the Civil war, or the war of the Rebellion, the Rock River Valley furnished its full quota. Many of its citizens made fine records as commanders in the Union service, and Stephen A. Hurlbut, of Belvidere, was one of the thirteen distinguished major generals, who stood large in the military history of the war and who afterward, like Logan, Palmer and Oglesby, adorned the public life of his State and Nation. Rockford, Dixon and Preeport were the great concentration points f i the raising of troops in the Rock River Valley. THE VALLEY REGIMENTS The regiments specially identified with this section of Illinois, although its men were scattered in many other commands, were the Fifteenth, Fifty-fourth, Seventy-fifth, Ninety-second, Ninety-fifth, One Hundred and Fifth and One Hundred and Forty-second Infantry and the First Light Artillery. Illinois having sent six regiments to the Mexican war, by courtesy the numbering of the regiments which participated in the war for the Union began with No. 7. A number of the regiments which responded to the first call of the president, claimed the right to be recognized as the first regiment in the field, but the honor was finally accorded to that organized at Springfield by Colonel John Cook. It was a three-months regiment and was mustered into the service April 25, 1861, ten days after President Lincoln's first call. The Fifteenth Infantry, the first regiment to be raised in the Rock River Valley of Illinois, was organized at Freeport and mustered into the service, May 24, 1861. It was engaged at Sedalia, Shiloh, Corinth, Metamora Hill, Vicks- burg, Fort Beauregard, Champion Hill, Allatoona and Bentonville. In March, 1864, the regiment reenlisted as veterans, and in the following July, was con- solidated with the Fourteenth Infantry as a Veteran Battalion. At Raleigh the Veteran Battalion was discontinued and the Fifteenth reorganized. It was mustered out at Springfield for final payment and discharge having served four years and four months. Miles marched 4,299. Men enlisted from date of organ- ization, 1,963. Strength at date of muster out, 640. Although the Fifty-fifth Infantry was organized at Chicago and mustered into service October 31, 1861, the regiment was chiefly recruited from the young farmers of "Winnebago, Kane, DeKalb, La Salle, Grundy, McDonough and Ful- ton counties. It participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Chickasaw Bayou, Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain and Jonesboro, being in the siege of Vicksburg: and Atlanta campaign. Altogether the regiment was engaged in thirty-one battles, was 128 days under fire and, in its campaigns, actually marched 3,240 miles. The command reenlisted as veterans, was mustered out at Little Rock, Ark., and received its final discharge at Chicago, the same month. The Seventy-fifth Infantry was organized at Dixon and mustered into the THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 359 service September 2, 1862. The regiment participated in the battles of Ferry- ville, Nolansville, Stone River, Lookout Mountain, Dalton, Resaca, Marietta, Kenesaw, Franklin, and Nashville; was mustered out at Nashville, June 12, 1865, and finally discharged at Chicago in the following month. Tht> Ninety-second Mounted Infantry was mustered into the service Septem- ber 4, 1862, having been recruited from Ogle, Stephenson and Carroll counties. During its term of service the regiment was in more than sixty battles and skirmishes, including Ringgold, Chickamauga and numerous engagements on the the march to the sea and the campaigns through the Carolinas. It was mus- tered out at. Concord, N. C, and finally discharged at Chicago, July 10, 1865. The Ninety-fifth Infantry was organized at Rockford and mustered into the service September 4, 1862. Three companies of the regiment were recruited from Boone County and seven from McHenry. It participated in the cam- paigns against Vicksburg, the Red River expedition, against Price in Missouri and Arkansas and around Mobile and Atlanta. In August, 1865, it was trans- ferred to the Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry. The One Hundred and Fifth Infantry was mustered into the service at Dixon, September 2, 1862, and participated in the Atlanta campaign and the subsequent engagements in the Carolinas, while advancing northward. It was mustered out at Washington, D. C, June 7, 1865, and discharged at Chicago ten days later. The One Hundred and Forty-second Infantry was organized at Freeport as a battalion of eight companies and sent to Camp Butler, where two companies were added, and the regiment mustered into service for one hundred days, June 18, 1864. The regiment was chiefly engaged in guarding railroads in Tennessee and was mustered out in Chicago, one month beyond its term of enlistment, in October, 1864. Battery F, of the First Light Artillery, was recruited at Dixon, and mus- ic red into the service at Springfield, February 25, 1862. It took part in the siege of Corinth and the Yocona expedition, and was consolidated with the other batteries of the regiment, March 7, 1865. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY OP WISCONSIN The grand military center of the Rock River Valley in Wisconsin was, of course, Madison, the State capital, from which also went to the front some of the most noted commands and commanders identified with the war in Wiscon- sin; and the nucleus of the military organization and distribution was Camp Randall, named after one of the great war governors of the State, Alexander \V. Randall. On the very day that Lincoln issued his first call for troops to "put down the rebellion," Governor Randall held a meeting in his office at the Capitol, with Judge 0. Cole in the chair. On the following day, Captain George E. Bryant tendered the services of the Madison Guards and the Governor issued his proclamation calling for the organization of the First Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer [nfantry. The Governor's Guards, Captain J. P. Atwood, were ready and accepted on the 18th. On dune !)th, the two Madison companies left for Harrisburg, Pa., and one of the first men wounded in the Civil war was Fred 360 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY B. Hutching, of Madison, a color bearer at the battle of Falling Waters, West Virginia. The colonel of the First Wisconsin Regiment for three years was John C. Starkweather, and of the Second, S. Park Coon. They were considered espe- cially Dane County regiments, as well as the Third and Fourth. The Eleventh was intended to be thus identified, but Dane County had already been drawn upon to such an extent that her men were thereafter distributed in more than a score of commands in the infantry, cavalry, artillery and among the sharp- shooters of the army. The colonel of the Eleventh, however, was Charles L. Har- ris, of Madison, and the lieutenant .colonel of the Sixteenth was Lucius Fairchild, afterward brigadier general and governor of the State. Several Rock River Valley men were prominent in the Randall administration. Matthew H. Car- penter, the brilliant young lawyer of Janesville, whose national fame was yet to be made, was appointed judge advocate with the rank of major. It is always to be remembered with regret and grief that Louis P. Harvey of Shopiere, Rock County, had only served about three months of his term as governor, when he was drowned while hastening to the relief of wounded Union boys stricken at Shiloh. As stated, Camp Randall was the great rendezvous for military movements in the raising and dispatching of troops which were sent from the Rock River Valley of Wisconsin. It was beautifully located, just west of Lake Monona and a mile and a half west of Capitol square, not far from the University build- ings. In the Civil war, as well as in subsequent calls for patriotic service, the students of the State University organized themselves and cheerfully and bravely marched to whatever field of battle they were called. Rock, Dodge and Jefferson counties, Wisconsin, came forward to support the Union cause with the best of their men and women and the utmost of their means. For the details as to Rock County reference is made to the complete history (Chapter XVII) covering that section of the State. Both Dodge and Jefferson counties were alive and stirring from the first to the last of the Civil war. Dodge County soldiers were in almost every regiment of the State. The Beaver Dam Rifles and the Horicon Guards were the first of the military organ- izations in existence at the outbreak of the war to be absorbed into the Union army — the former being assigned to the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry, and the Guards, to the Tenth. In Jefferson County, Fort Atkinson and Watertown, were leading war centers of the Valley. Recruiting for the First Wisconsin Cavalry was eagerly pushed in June, 1861, and nearly three companies were raised in Jefferson County. The men saw strenuous service in Arkansas, Ten- nessee, Missouri and in the march to Atlanta and the sea. They were finally discharged at Nashville, in July, 1864. Two other companies of the Fourth Cavalry were also raised in Jefferson County, and were sent to the Army of the Gulf and the Southwest. Two companies for the Twenty-ninth Infantry and one for the Thirteenth were also drafted from various points in the county. Watertown, perhaps because of its large German element, had been noticeably imbued with the military spirit, and its Rifles, German Rifles, Union Guards and other organizations were readily absorbed by various Wisconsin regiments, to say nothing of the Watertown Irish Company and the Watertown American Volunteer Company. The Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth and Twenty-ninth THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 361 Infantry regiments all received contributions from these previously organized companies. ( hie of the leading commanders of the Valley went from Watertown. Henry Bertram enlisted from the Fifth was of Watertown and was chosen first lieu- tenant of Company A, Third Regiment of volunteer infantry. He finally reached the grade of brigadier general. General Bertram was appointed postmaster at Watertown after the war and died September 3, 1878. Only the high spots of the Civil war as it affected the Rock River Valley in Wisconsin and Illinois have been touched in this narrative. The bravery dis- played by its soldiers on a thousand battle fields and the self-sacrifice and gen- erosity evinced by all classes of men, women and children at home, laboring toward the same Union ends, have been told and retold and are known and honored by thousands who were saved the anxieties and agonies of those days. THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR The entire State of Wisconsin raised and equipped about 5,500 men for the Spanish-American war; four regiments of infantry and one battery of light artillery. They participated in only a few skirmishes and but two of the men were killed in action. Notwithstanding. 141 of those ready for action and any- thing else which might come to an American soldier died of disease. The records of those who thus gave their lives as residents of the Rock River Valley of Wis- consin are not accessible. THE THIRD AND SIXTH REGIMENTS For the Spanish-American war, Illinois furnished nine regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry and a battery of light artillery. Except in the Third and the Sixth Infantry regiments there were no large representations from the Rock River Valley of Illinois. Arthur E. Fisher, of Rockford, was lieutenant colonel of the Third, and Richings .J. Shand, of the same city, one of the majors. Several Rockford men also joined the hospital service and the regimental band. In the ranks were men from Freeport, Belvidere, Rochelle, Byron, Mount Morris and Franklin Grove. William II. Brogunier was captain of Company II, Charles E. Almong, tirst lieutenant, and William II. Sarver, second lieutenant, all of Rockford, which also furnished most of the privates. Belvidere also supplied a number of the rank and file. Rockford sent most of the officers and men which formed Company K. of the Third Regiment, with about a dozen privates from Belvidere. Edward E. Leonard was captain of the company, James A. Buggies first lieu- tenant and Krnest L. Hess, second lieutenant; all citizens of Rockford. Com- pany M was primarily a Rochelle company, with a sprinkling from Oregon, Paw Paw, Spring Valley, Franklin Grove and Mt. Morris. All the officers were from Rochelle — Edward A. Ward, captain; George VY. Dicus, first lieutenant; and William F. Hackett, second lieutenant. The sendee of the Third Infantry was in Porto Rico. It was mustered into the service for two years, at Camp Tanner, Springfield, III., .May 7, 1898. After a stay of several weeks at Chickamauga Park and Newporl News, on July 25th 362 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY it sailed on the St. Louis for Porto Rico and arrived at Ponce, on the 31st. The regiment landed at Arroyo on August 2nd, under slight resistance by the Spanish. It participated in the engagement at Guayama, August 5, 1898, and north of that town the regiment had skirmishes on the 8th and 13th. The Third then engaged in out-post duty in the locality and east of Guayama until Novem- ber, when the troops embarked on the Roumania for New York. It arrived on the 9th and was mustered out at Joliet, 111., January 24, 1899. The Sixth Regiment had large contingents from Rock Island, Moline, Sterling and Freeport, with representatives from Kewanee, Morrison, Prophets- town, Geneseo, Cambridge, Albany, Lyndon, Erie and Port Byron. The lieu- tenant colonel of the regiment was Edward Kittilsen, of Moline, and William E. Baldwin of Dixon, was one of the three majors. John 0. Prestin, of Sterling, was chief musician. Company A was composed entirely of Rock Island men; its captain was William McConochie; first lieutenant, Luke E. Hemenway; sec- ond lieutenant, George W. Flood. Geneseo, Cambridge and Kewanee chiefly contributed to form Company B, and their officers were Geneseo men — John W. Reig, captain and William A. Wanner, first lieutenant, James Hill, sec- ond lieutenant. Company E was almost entirely composed of Sterling citi- zens, all of its officers coming from that city. William F. Lawrie was its cap- tain, Goodcil B. Dillon, first lieutenant, and Frank Wahl, second lieutenant. Officers and most of the men organized as Company F were from Moline — Frank J. Clendenin, captain; George M. Gould, first lieutenant and Marvin H. Lyon, second lieutenant. The bulk of the personnel making Company G was fur- nished by Lee County, especially Dixon. Its captain, however, was Philip Mc- Grath, of Woosung, Ogle County, but both lieutenants were Dixon men — Charles E. Frisby, first, and Henry B. Trowbridge, second lieutenant. With only a few exceptions, Whiteside County gave her men to organize Company I, of the Sixth. William F. Colebaugh of Morrison was its captain and Edward C. Lawton, first lieutenant. Company L was virtually a Freeport unit, with Charles B. Kling as captain, Simon H. Ottenhauser, first lieutenant, and Harry H. Yount, second lieutenant. The Sixth Illinois Volunteers Infantry was mustered into the military service of the United States for two years, at Springfield, May 11, 1898. A week later left for Camp Russell A. Alger, Va. ; remained there until July 5th, and the following day the regiment arrived by rail at Charleston, South Carolina. Before the end of the month, several transports had landed the detached companies of the regiment in Porto Rico. The only company which actually saw action was G, on July 26th, four miles from Guanica, Various units of the regiment marched and countermarched and camped in many parts of the island ready for service of any kind. It finally embarked at Port Ponce, September 7th, arrived at Weehawken, N. J., about a week later, and was mustered out at Springfield, 111., November 25, 1898. ILLINOIS PARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD WAR Rock River Valley of Wisconsin and Illinois poured her men, her money, and her utmo.st resources of energy, ability and patriotism gathered from all classes, from both sexes old and young, into the overwhelming volume of forces, THE ROCK RIVER GALLEY 363 means and high spirit, which was the decisive contribution of the United States in the final crushing of European imperialism. This section of two great, brave, resourceful states, cannot be set aside as any exception to the general spirit and irresistible action which animated every portion of the United States in doing its pari in the World war. On April 6, 1917, Congress declared that a state of war existed between the United States and the Imperial German Government, and in the follow- ing May Governor Prank 0. Lowden appointed the Illinois State Council of Defense. The National Guard was reorganized and in May the selective service system went into effect. This inaugurated the first of the three reg- istrations, which not only furnished the men who ended the war overseas, but had a potent effect on the enemy as illustrating the tremendous man-power of the United States. The National Guard of the State was promptly in- ducted into the service as a body assigned to the quelling of riots of whatever kind. On June 7-10, the companies of the Third Regiment were called to Rockford to quell anti-draft demonstrations which threatened to lead to serious riots. In May, 1917, was formed the Women's Committee of the State Council of Defense that every woman in Illinois might be given an opportunity to tender her patriotic service at home or abroad; and nobly did they acquit themselves of this opportunity. The President's proclamation of July 3, 1917, inducted into Federal service all the units of the National Guard — eight regiments of infantry, three of field artillery and a regiment of engineers. This organized military strength of the State in August, 1917, amounted to 18,619 men. The Sixth Infantry was commanded by Colonel Charles G. Davis, of Geneseo, Henry County. Illinois troops of the Rock River Valley were distributed in numerous com- mands and after the National Guard of the different states were absorbed into the greal Federal Army, it became impossible to trace the State units as a whole. But the bulk of the soldiers drafted from that section of Illinois were attached to the Thirty-third (Prairie) Division. In the fall of 1917, it mobilized at Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, under the command of Major General George Bell. The nucleus of the division, one of the bravest and most efficient of the American Expeditionary Army, was the Illinois National Guard, and it was brought up to war strength mainly by Illinois men in the National Army sent Erom Camps Grant, Dodge and Taylor. THE THIRTY-THIRD DIVISION AT THE FRONT The Thirty-third Division comprised the Sixty-fifth and the Sixty-sixth Infantry brigades, the Fifty-eighth Field Artillery Brigade, with machine gun battalions, engineering and field signal units, military police and ammuni- tion, supply and sanitary trains. So thorough was the training and so fine was the morale of the Thirty-third Division that it was repeatedly separated and drafted to strengthen the various armies at the fighting front. At differ- ent periods it was attached to five armies and twelve corps and is said to have been the only division of the United States army which was drafted to the fighting fronts and served under British, French and American com- 364 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY manders. As a whole, the various commands of the division participated in the fighting at the Amiens sector, the Somme offensive, the Verdun sector, the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives, and the Tryon sector; at the last named sector of the battle front, its great service was completed, October 26- November 11. During the active operations of the Thirty-third, the division captured 3,987 prisoners and suffered 8,279 casualties, of which 785 officers and men were killed in action. In the number of congressional medals awarded for bravery "beyond the call of duty," it was only exceeded by the Thirtieth Division of the American Army. As a whole it was with the Army of Oc- cupation in Germany, reached Hoboken, N. J., in May, 1919. The first con- tingent of the Thirty-third reached Chicago, on the 27th of that month, and by the end of June it was demobilized at Camp Grant. the 123rd heavy field artillery This regiment is one of the few commands of the Thirty-third Division which may be traced as a unit through the overseas fighting. It was mobilized as the Sixth Illinois Infantry, in command of Colonel Charles G. Davis, in March, 1917. In April, after the declaration of a state of war with Imperial Germany, it was federalized and detailed to guard transportation lines, muni- tion depots and arsenals in Illinois and nearby states. The command remained with Colonel Davis, as it did when General Bell organized the Thirty-third Division at Camp Logan, Texas, and the old Sixth Infantry became the 123rd Heavy Field Artillery, one of the regiments of the Fifty-eighth Field Artil- lery Brigade. , The 123rd received intensive training at Camp Logan, and in the second week of May, 1918, moved to Camp Merritt, sailing from Hoboken, on the Scotia, the 26th of that month. The regiment landed at Havre, June 8th, and a few days afterward, with other units of the Fifty-eighth Brigade was sent to Southeastern France for a two-months' training. Toward the end of August it was sent to Foret de la Reine, where it participated in the offen- sive of September 12th. During the following eight months it served with four American divisions — the 89th, 1st, 91st and 32nd — and participated in the St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and other offensives which tended to end the war. The regiment rejoined the Thirty-third Division on January 8, 1919, not far from the City of Luxembourg, and sailed from Brest on the Amer- ican, May 16, 1919. The transport reached Hoboken, N. J., on May 24th, and reached Chicago, on the 5th of June. With the third contingent of the divi- sion, it paraded through the streets of Chicago in review before Governor Lowden, and was demobilized at Camp Grant, June 9, 1919. Colonel Davis had been in command of the regiment throughout, and is therefore one of the leading military figures connected with the Rock River Valley in the fight- ing operations of the World war. He left the service with three decorations to his credit. The 123rd Heavy Field Artillery suffered twenty-five casualties — one officer and twenty-four men having been killed, or died of wounds and disease overseas. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 365 THE SINEWS OP WAR The world now realizes that one of the vital explanations of the courage and instinctive push shown by the American soldiers in the field was the knowl- edge which came to them everywhere that the United States was behind them in money, food and spirit. Great sacrifices were made at home, as well as the supreme test at the front. The Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the Salvation Army, the Knights of Columbus, the Jewish Welfare Board, and hundreds of other organizations, gave an illustration, North, South, East and West, and everywhere between the points of the compass in the United States of America, of the submersion of sects and selfish interests in the one great movement of "winning the war." For the time, politics seemed to be forgotten. In all this work at home, the Rock River Valley was active and sub- stantially united, as well as in the grim duty of sending its men to the front, or getting them ready to go there, if they were called. The eight Illinois counties indicated that for the period of the war more than 63,000 of their men had registered for service and over 7,000 been accepted. The eight Illinois counties are credited by the Government with the fol- lowing contributions to the chief war funds: Rock Island County— Liberty loans: First $1,996,700; second, $4,807,100; third, $.'3,873,900; fourth, $6,976,450; victory, $4,399,550. To the war savings fund, the county subscribed $776,739.25; Red Cross, $60,881.91, and United War Work, $140,095.34. Winnebago County— Liberty loans: First, $1,121,050; second, $2,740,000; third, $3,229,950; fourth. $5,236,150; victory, $3,741,350. To the war savings fund the county subscribed $661,161.50; Red Cross, $63,062.50, and United War Work, $100,178.22. Henry County— Liberty loans: First, $440,600; second, $1,680,150; third, $1,963,450; fourth, $3,129,950; victory-, $2,035,150. To the war savings fund the county subscribed $489,413.25; Red Cross, $66,063.23; and United War Work, $90,469.47. Stephenson County— Liberty loans: First, $347,000; second, $920,850; third, $1,957,500; fourth. $1,999,600; victory, $1,455,500. To the war savings fund, the county subscribed $716,421.75; Red Cross, $46,273.24, and United War Work, $56,376.96. Lee County— Liberty loans: First, $325,350; second, $1,136,900; third, $1,- 053,200; fourth. $1,718,000; victory, $1,357,050. To the war savings fund, the county subscribed $606,309.25; Red Cross, $38,023.62, and United War Work, $53,946.93. Whiteside County— Liberty loans : First, $370,450 ; second, $1,298,600 ; third, $1,444,900; fourth, $2,232,750: victory, $1,595,750. To the war savings fund, the county subscribed $606,986.50; Red Cross, $23,807.76, and United War Work, $92,298.3!!. Ogle County— Liberty loans: First, $136,500; second, $652,450; third, $1,- 062,250; fourth, $1,568,700; victory, $1,209,450. To the war savings fund, the county subscribed $674,806; Red Cross, $28,982.64, and United War Work, $43,569.46. 366 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Boone- County— Liberty loans: First, $122,600; second, $422,900; third, $627,650; fourth, $777,200; victory, $599,400. To the war savings fund, the county subscribed $177,313.50; Red Cross, $16,658.69, and United War Work, $22,184. The Rock River Valley of Illinois was otherwise distinguished for the prom- inent part it took in the war. The most impressive of the industries mobilized for service in the war was perhaps the Rock Island Arsenal, so carefully guarded from enemy mischief makers and the monthly output of its equip- ments and munitions was raised to its annual production in times of peace. Frank O. Lowden, the war governor, a resident of the Rock River Valley, showed unusual ability in mobilizing the economical resources of the State in the cause of the allies opposed to imperialism, and the Illinois divisions of the United States food and fuel administrations were noteworthy for their zeal and efficiency. Neither can too much be said in praise of the Illinois Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense, in the work of which many women of the Rock River Valley were prominent. As the maimed and otherwise disabled American soldiers came back from the war, ready again to enter peaceful employment, the Government endeavored to meet the situation, and in June, 1918, Congress passed an act providing for "vocational rehabilitation and return to civil employment of disabled per- sons discharged from the military or naval forces of the United States." In order to carry out the intents of the act, the United States was divided into fourteen districts. Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were placed in District No. 8, and the local offices of the Federal Board in Illinois were designated as Chicago, Rockford, Champaign, Centralia, Peoria and East St. Louis. In view of this designation, the Rock River Valley became prominent as a center for the upbuilding of the shattered and war-worn soldiers who, after having done their part, had returned to the ways of peace. WISCONSIN ENTERS THE WORLD WAR When the United States entered the World war, in April, 1917, the First, Second and Third regiments had already served on the Mexican border and were seasoned troops, and in August, or four months afterward, Adjutant General Orlando Holway, head of the National Guard, had recruited that force to war strength. In other words, 15,266 men were already available — six regi- ments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, one regiment of artillery, two battalions of signal corps and engineers and four hospital and ambulance com- panies. On the 2nd of August the mobilization of the State troops began at Camp Douglas. Among the officers thus assembled at Camp Douglas waiting to be called into action, who hailed from the Rock River Valley of Wisconsin, were Colonel John P. Joachim, of Madison, who commanded the First Regiment, one of the veteran organizations of the State; Captain George F. O'Connell, of the Supply Company, Madison ; Arthur R. Langholff, captain of Company B, Fort Atkinson ; William Smith, captain of Company G, Madison ; E. Howe Allen, captain of Compan,y L, Beloit; and Edgar N. Caldwell, captain of Com- pany M, Janesville. Beaver Dam was represented by Company K, Second THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 367 Regiment, which was commanded by Theodore Parker, and Watertown, by Company E, Fifth Infantry, of which Albert P. Solliday was captain. The First Brigade was made up of the First, Second and Third Infantry regiments, known as the veterans and nearly eveiy enlisted man of which had served on the Mexican border and many of whom had seen years of serv- ice. While these troops were in camp in August, three companies of the Second Infantry were transferred to the Forty-second, or Rainbow Division, and or- ganized as the 150th Machine Gun Battalion. They were sent to Camp Mills, Long Island, for preliminary training preparatory to shipment to France. THIRY-SECOND DIVISION AT THE FRONT Finally, the Illinois and Michigan regiments of the National Guard were sent to Waco, Texas, as the Thirty-second Division of the National Army. There they were completely reorganized under the French military system, and, after several months of training, they were sent to France, the month of March practically finding them all ready for action. At the battle front, the Thirty-second division, as part of the Sixth French Army won high words of praise from its greatest leaders. The Meuse-Argonne campaign, the Chateau- Thierry zone and the fierce Oise-Aisne offensive, with the final advance upon the River Meuse up to the very signing of the armistice, were all scenes of the unconquerable spirit displayed by the men of the Thirty-second Division. In this fighting, finely-disciplined American army, many men from the Rock River Valley were proud to be enrolled. THE HOME DEFENSE Governor B. Philipp was equal to the emergency at home, and the Wis- consin State Council of Defense was early put in vigorous motion by the appointment of Magnus Swenson, of Madison, as its chairman. As State food administrator, Mr. Swenson afterward added to his reputation for ability and patriotism and helped to make Wisconsin a leader among the states as long as the war lasted. Each county of the State had its own council and chairman. John S. Donald was chairman of the Dane County Council; W. H. Sherman, of Dodge; William D. James of Jefferson and Simon Smith, of Rock. It is said that Wisconsin led the nation in putting in operation the selective service draft; in fact, that Governor Philipp had done so, under authority from the secretary of war, before the law actually w r ent into effect. By the 1st of May, 1917, he had organized the local boards of the various counties. In Dane County, Dr. Henry V. Bancroft and Nels Holman were appointed chairman of the two divisions, and Harry Marsh and C. W. Hathaway, chair- men in Dodge County. The chairman of the Jefferson County council was Edward T. Hayhurst and the chairmen of the Rock County divisions were Robert Whipple and George B. Ingersoll. William L. Dowling was also named as chairman of the Madison city council. When President Wilson directed Herbert Hoover to begin the mobilization of the food economy forces of the United States, Wisconsin, as one of the great producers of the world, immediately got into action. In August, 1917, 368 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Magnus Sweuson, chairman of the State Council of Defense, was appointed federal food administrator for the State of Wisconsin, and he, in turn, ap- pointed the heads of various divisions and counties, who were largely con- fined to residents of Madison. The chairman of Dane County was C. B. Chap- man of Madison ; of Dodge County, A. A. Washburn, of Horicon ; Jefferson County, Fred Prentiss, of Watertown, and of Rock County, Fred L, demons of Janesville. The wheatless and the meatless days were generally observed through the pleas of the national and state administrations, and Wisconsin was a leader in the expansion of the acreage of land devoted to the raising of sugar beets. The acreage allotted to Rock County was the largest (1,950) of any of the counties in the State, and Dane, second, with an acreage of 1,600. Wisconsin was the pioneer State in the conservation of fuel and the han- dling of this product which entered into every move and phase of the World war. The administrator appointed for Dane County was George E. Gary, of Madison ; Dodge County, A. B. Chandler, Beaver Dam ; Jefferson County, G. J. Kispert, of Jefferson, and Rock County, Jesse Earle, of Janesville. The women of the State were up and doing before the men were fully awake to their war duties, the Red Cross having commenced its work before the State Council of Defense was created. The first official recognition of their part in the State's program was the appointment of Mrs. Henry H. Morgan of Madison as the woman member of the State Council. Early in July, 1917, a conference was held at the capital at which thirty-six counties were repre- sented and fifty-three women war workers registered. A call to supply women workers for the pea canneries came to Mrs. William Kittle, chairman of the Committee on Women Industry, and the emergency was met with the coopera- tion of women in the counties where canneries were located. The executive committee headed the various departments of the state organization, and each county was fully organized. When the Wisconsin National Guard entrained for France and left the State in September, 1917, by way of Waco, Texas, Wisconsin was left with- out a military force to protect her home soil. The Wisconsin State Guard, recruited among men either too old or too young for national service, was formed. It was composed of four regiments, its first, the Seventh, numbering from the last of the National Guard which had been drafted into the National Army. The Eighth Regiment was commanded by Rolf M. P. Rosman, of Beloit. Two of its majors were James W. O'Connell, of Madison, and Robert J. Parks, of Fort Atkinson. Captain Jacob E. Kinzer, of Beloit, was quartermaster of the regiment, and among its first lieutenants were Dean B. Becker, of Fort Atkinson, and Martin J. Olson, of Madison. The Eighth was therefore peculiarly a Rock River Valley regiment. Not a few of the Wisconsin State Guard who were below the draft age entered the National Army after they were twenty-one years of age and had received a military training which fitted them for active service. WAR FUND CONTRIBUTIONS Wisconsin was generous both of her man-power and her financial resources. The campaigns for war savings stamps were briskly conducted. Of the seventy- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 369 one counties in the Slate, Jefferson County stood twenty-third in the total sales ($408,000) and the per eapita proportion ($11.90). Roek County was twenty-eighth — sales $567,938 (per eapita, $9.67) ; Dane, forty-second, with sales amounting to $755,154 and per capita, $9.06, and Dodge County, sales $289,191, with a per eapita of $6.02. The Liberty loan campaigns were thoroughly conducted and the responses in dollars and cents were what were to be expected from those who so freely gave of their manhood. The Wisconsin counties in the Rock River Valley made the following exhibit. The comparative significance of the loans is largely gauged by population and banking resources, as follows: Dane County — Population, 83,835; banking resources, $26,712,394; assessed valuation, $99,211,721; first loan, $1,470,600; second, $4,399,550; third, 13,016,000; fourth, $5,747,950. Total, $14,634,100. Dodge County — Population, 48,081; banking resources, $11,011,020; assessed valuation, $99,211,721 ; first loan, $440,550 ; second, $1,451,900; third, $1,630,650; fourth, $2,711,200. Total loans, $6,234,300. Jefferson County — Population, 33,919; banking resources, $10,377,843; as- sessed valuation, $67,348,306. Loans: First, $313,350; second, $939,800; third, $1,272,190; fourth, $1,777,450. Total, $4,302,790. Rock County — Population, 59,007; banking resources, $17,101,607; assessed valuation, $98,958,401. Loans: First, $598,950; second, $2,299,650; third, $2,- 694,600; fourth, $3,771,400. Total, $9,364,600. The Young Men's Christian Association conducted three campaigns for war funds in Wisconsin. Much of the work of organizing and inspiring the workers fell upon Dr. J. B. Modesitt, general secretary of the Milwaukee association, and C. C. Gittings, president of the state organization. Emerson Ela, of Madison, and N. J. Ross, of Beloit, members of the executive committee, were prominent in the campaigns. For the second campaign, Wisconsin was divided into ten districts, with their chairmen and campaign directors. The amounts raised in the four counties of the Rock River Valley in Wisconsin were as follows: Dane, $53,448.95; Dodge, $8,596.49; Jefferson, $12,718.70; Rock, $39,728.95. The history of the Red Cross in Wisconsin and the Rock River Valley is simply an epitome of the Red Cross work throughout the Nation. The head- quarters of the Central Division, which included Wisconsin, were in Chicago. The first War Fund drive was launched in the spring of 1917 before the State was fully organized, but this fact did not deter Wisconsin from far exceeding its quota of $1,100,000; the State contributed $1,563,977.43 to this fund. In May, 191S, with a designated quota of $1,500,000, Wisconsin subscribed $2.- 228,202 to the second war fund of the Red Cross. With a Catholic population of about 600,000, Wisconsin contributed $1,- 122,000 to Knights of Columbus war funds. The State was first called upon to contribute to the important work of the organization at a meeting held in Chicago in 1917, at which W. H. Dougherty, of Janesville, State deputy, re- ported that Wisconsin would raise $50,000 toward a national fund of $1,000,000. In the Wisconsin organization Rev. Joseph E. Ilanz, of Beloit, was chaplain of the Wisconsin Knights of Columbus. Contributions to the war funds were 370 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY made both through councils and churches, and Madison, Janesville, Watertown, Beaver Dam and Jefferson were generous in their contributions. Through the Salvation Army, the Jewish Welfare Board and other fine and tireless organizations, citizens of Wisconsin and the Valley also poured their contributions into the vast fund raised for the conduct of the great war for democratic principles. THE COLLEGE WAR SPIRIT There was no finer, more generous and enthusiastic display of the war spirit in Wisconsin than among the student bodies of its institutions of higher learn- ing. Beloit and Rockford colleges sent their men and women and their money into any field at home or abroad where their services were of most value, and at the head of the system the University of Wisconsin was prodigal of all it had to give. During the war 180 members of the faculty of the State University entered actual war service and 2,150 of its students entered the army or navy. The University had its officers' training camp in operation six weeks before the national camps were ready, and of the 450 men who were trained therein nearly all received commissions and some gave their lives for their country. The first gold star on the University's service flag was announced in March, 1918, when news came of the death of Clarence 0. Docken, of Mount Horeb, Dane County, class of '17, who died of spinal meningitis in France. To describe in detail the splendid work accomplished by the men and women of the University, by the members of the faculty and every unit of the student body, would require page after page of this history and far exceeds the bounds of its prescribed subjects. But very close to the subject and to the hearts and recollections of the State University personnel was the death of its talented, energetic and beloved president, Charles Richard Van Hise, who passed away from his faithful labors on November 19, 1918, about a week after the signing of the armistice. As he was the first graduate of the University to be called to its presidency, his demise was all the more significant and bound up with the history and fine traditions of the University. CHAPTER XVII ROCK COUNTY, WISCONSIN GEOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF THE COUNTY TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE AVERAGE ELEVA- TION OF THE WATER POWER WINNEBAGO INDIANS, FIRST KNOWN SETTLERS DISPUTED INDIAN CLAIMS TO THE COUNTY FIRST TREATY FOR LANDS IN THE VALLEY — SUBSEQUENT TREATIES SECURING TO THE UNITED STATES COMPLETE POSSESSION OF THE VALLEY THIBAULT, FIRST WHITE MAN TO SETTLE IN THE COUNTY — THIBAULT ON SITE OF TURTLE VILLAGE — FIRST SETTLEMENT OF JANES- VILLE — HENRY F. JANES EARLY HISTORY OF JANESVILLE LAND CLAIMS .^(,)( T ATTER PRACTICES' JANESVILLE'S DEVELOPMENT — ROCK COUNTY ORGANIZED IN 1839 — JANESVILLE AS COUNTY SEAT — JANES, THE FIRST POSTMASTER OF JANESVILLE — COURTHOUSE, 1841 EARLY SCHOOLS — CHURCH HISTORY OF JANES- VILLE — FIRST JANESVILLE GAZETTE, 1845, WHIG NEWSPAPER. — STEAMBOAT NAV- IGATION OF THE ROCK JANESVILLE IN THE '40s — JANESVILLE INCORPORATED AS A CITY IN 1853 GROWTH TO 1861 JANESVILLE IN THE CIVIL WAR POST- WAR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT — GROWTH IN THE '90S — JANESVILLE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY; JANESVILLE OF TODAY FIRST SETTLEMENT OF BELOIT, 1835 CALEB BLODGETT DR. HORACE WHITE AND THE NEW ENGLAND EMIGRA- TION SOCIETY — EARLY BELOIT FERRY ORIGIN OF THE NAME, BELOIT OTHER PROMINENT EARLY SETTLERS, 1837-1840 SEVERAL " FIRST THINGS" BELOIT IN- CORPORATED AS A VILLAGE IN 1846 EARLY STATE STREET IN BELOIT EARLY MANUFACTURES OF BELOIT — CHURCH HISTORY EARLY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL TEACHERS BELOIT COLLEGE CHARTERED IN 1846 — ITS ORIGIN AND HISTORY — DEVELOPMENT OF BELOIT AS AN INDUSTRIAL CITY MANUFACTURING PLANTS OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY — BELOIT BANKS — BELOIT OF THE PRESENT — BELOIT IN WAR OTHER SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY CLINTON, SHOPIERE, FULTON AND EDGERTON MILTON AND MILTON COLLEGE EMERALD GROVE AND EVANSVILLE — OTHER VILLAGES. Tlie beginning of Rock County was naturally its appearance above the ocean ;is a part of Wisconsin's geological island. Dr. T. C. Chamberlain gives us the details of its geological history from which we extract the essentials. Wisconsin was for unknown ages a shallow arm of the sea. Deposits were made by the constant washing against shores farther north and these became hardened into sandstone, shale and other forms of sedimentary rock. Then the cooling of the earth's crust caused contraction and a wrinkled surface, great pressure from beneath swelled up these deposits, crumpling them, solidi- fying and crystallizing them and elevating them above the ocean. Then followed for untold ages successive periods of the wearing away and depositing of the material on the bed of the shallow sea before the stone founda- Vol. I— 24 371 372 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY tions of our state and county were laid. Shales, sandstone and limestones Math combined thickness of several thousand feet accumulated. Special upheavals and earth heat changed these shales in the northern part of the state into the mineral resources. Another long period followed the Archaean with the sea wearing down the rock still more. On the south shore of the Wisconsin island the wave action produced a light colored sand and sandstone of at least a thousand feet in thickness. This deposit was widest in its central part as it extended across the state. It underlies all of the later formations. By the water from the northern half of the state soaking continually into this porous rock it be- came, by its occasioned water-bearing formation, a lasting source for the artesian wells and pure water. This Potsdam sandstone was followed by a long continued deposit of mag- nesian limestone rock of from fifty to two hundred fifty feet in thickness. Then later the ocean formed and laid down silicious sand which hardened into rock, filling up the valleys in the under limestone and leveling the whole surface. Changes in ocean conditions deposited a layer of limestone about 120 feet in thickness, alternating with clay which became shale. This Trenton lime- stone had ultimately built on it a bed of light gray crystalline rock called Galena because of its content of sulphide of lead. This deposit occupied the southwestern part of the state and a broad north and south belt in east central Wisconsin. Later the greatest era of limestone formation occurred with the Wisconsin island gradually emerging from the ocean and enlarging by concentric belts of limestone, sandstone and shale. Here Rock County again appears as dry land only to be again submerged. Then followed the Devonian era of fishes. Therein a cement rock belong- ing to the Hamilton age of the great Devonian period was formed. As the ocean retired southward Rock County became permanently dry land with all its rock formations laid. Geological eras followed which affected other parts of the continent but left the Wisconsin island with its level unchanged except from erosion. Then the glacial period began its mighty work of ploughing and sculpturing Wis- consin into its present beauty, fitness and fertility. The great ice mass ploughed and wore down all the rough places and moved the broken material into the hollows, carried southward the boulders, and melting, spread still farther south- ward over the state the finer material composed of pebbles, sand and clay. The third of the three glaciers operating over the state ploughed Green Bay and the valley of Rock River. Then with the continent steadily growing warmer the glaciers melted backwards leaving the rock and earth material heaped over the surface forming new hills and valleys. The melting of so much glacial ice dug out the valley of the Wisconsin and of our OAvn Rock River. A depression of the continent north of Wisconsin occurred about this same time and gave changes in the drainage within the state. Storm and frost and other erosive forces for another long period of time ground the surface more finely and laid the basis for the rise of the THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY :m present vegetation. The decaying remains of the trees, plants and grasses through the ages became the rich soil of southern Wisconsin. A great glacial valley occupied once the whole eastern half of Rock County. Rock County was completely filled with boulders, pebbles, gravel and sand and fertile earth formed upon the surface of the drift. Over this face Rock River and Turtle ('reek have cut their channels until finally the river has worn its way to the limestone ledges at the west edge of the old chasm. Under the surface water is percolating through the drift material from the Turtle valley toward and into the bed of Rock River, furnishing it with a large number of springs. TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE The general inclination of the surface of Rock County is southward. The valley of Rock River runs southward through the center of the county and the surface on either side of it slopes towards it. In the immediate vicinity of Rock River there is an extensive plain, Rock Prairie, three to five miles wide with prolongations back from the river at certain points. With the exception of a similar level area bordering on Sugar River the surface of the county is gently undulatory or moderately rolling. There are at some points facing the streams abrupt cliffs but little of the surface is too steep for culti- vation. Sugar River rising in Dane County passes through the southwestern corner of Rock County while the Yahara (Catfish) River empties into the Rock in the town of Fulton. Flowing out of Turtle Lake in the northeastern corner of the town of Richmond in Walworth County a stream unites near the west line of the town of Delavan with the outlet of Delavan Lake forming bj r this union Turtle Creek. This creek, following a westerly course, enters Rock County in the town of Bradford, flows west and southwest and empties into Rock River below Beloit. Numerous creeks and several small lakes in various parts of the county with the above mentioned rivers furnish favorable drainage to the county. The average elevation of the water power of the Rock River is about 155 feet above the surface of the river where it leaves the state at Beloit. The main river itself furnishes an estimated 20,000 horsepow r cr. Abundant water, in consequence, was found ready for early manufacture. WINNEBAGO INDIANS The Winnebago Indians were the first settlers of the county. From the north line of the county near the south end of Lake Koshkonong to the State line at Beloit, along the Rock River, an almost continuous line of Indian Mounds, villages and camp sites, testify to the fact. Before 1835 and the advent of the white man the Indians had left and little definite information is known of their settlements. A Winnebago village certainly once stood on the site of present Beloit at the junction of the Turtle with the Rock. The Winnebagoes never had, however, unassailed possession of the county. The Sauk and Foxes and Pottawatomies claimed with them an ownership of the 374 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Rock River country, while the Pottawatomies disputed the possession of Rock County with them. The first treaty made by the United States for any of the lands of the Rock River was made with the Winnebagoes January 30, 1816, followed by those of 1826 and 1833. The remaining part of the county was secured to the United States by the treaty with the Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomie Indians at Chicago in September, 1833. All doubt as to title was removed by the treaty with the Winnebagoes in 1838 in which that tribe ceded all of their lands east of the Mississippi. The treaty of 1832 with the Winnebagoes secured to the United States for settlement the western half of Rock County, while that of 1833 with the Ottawas, Chippewas and Pottawatomies secured the east half of the county. FIRST KNOWN SETTLERS Thibault, a French Canadian Indian trader, was the first white man to settle in the county claiming in 1836 to have been living in this general region some twelve years. There was, however, no evidence of his habitation when John Inman and William Holmes visited the mouth of Turtle Creek, the present site of Beloit, on July 14, 1835. But in May, 1836, Caleb Blodgett found him living there with his two squaws and a grown-up son. In the spring of 1837 Thibault sold his twelve-by-sixteen log cabin to Messrs. Crane and Bicknell and removed to Lake Koshkonong. Ex-Congressman L. B. Caswell of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, writes as follows of Thibault: "I knew Thibault (Tebo), the Indian trader, well. He had two log cabins about a mile and a half above the mouth of Lake Kosh- konong on the south side. Thibault, I should judge, was about fifty, quite tall and slender. He kept a stock of goods suitable for his trade with the Indians. * * * He was said to be a fur buyer for Solomon Juneau of Milwaukee and well off, and we always found him honest and exerting a good influence among the Indians. He kept nothing intoxicating for the Indians and sold them only such goods as they needed. Unfortunately, however, he had a reckless grown-up son, Frank, who gave him no small amount of trouble. Frank and the young wife were greatly attached to each other. In the winter of 1839-40 the old gentleman disappeared, which fact was not made known by Frank for several weeks, till finally he came to our house and told us his father had been missing for some time, giving no intelligent story about the disappearance. Suspicion at once rested upon both the young people and extensive search was made for some trace of foul play; but without success and the search was finally aban- doned. In the spring of 1840 Frank stored some of their household goods and articles of food with my people and, with the two wives, went away to the Mis- sissippi River. After some months Frank came back and took away his goods and that was the last we heard of them." The first settlement in the county was made in 1835 by a company com- posed of John Inman, George Follmer, William Holmes, Jr., and Joshua Holmes, and Milo Jones. Coming from Milwaukee they erected, November 18th, a small cabin upon the southern bank of the Rock River opposite the "Big Rock" in present Janesville. During the same month, Samuel St. John came from Ver- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 375 mont with his wife and three children. During the winter the nine persons all lived under the one roof. In January, 1836, an infant son came to the family of Mr. St. John, Seth B. St. John, becoming the first white child born in the county. Dr. James Heath and his wife joined the settlement in 1836, while Judge William Holmes of Michigan City moved his family thereto in March, 1836, accompanied by John Holmes and wife and Joshua Clark. Among the several who came in the spring and autumn of 1836 we find prominently mentioned Henry P. Janes and family, his brother, Edward Janes, John P. Dickson and wife, W. H. H. Bailey and wife, Levi Harness, Curtis Davies and Levi St. John and family. Soon after his arrival Henry P. Janes erected a cabin sixteen feet square upon the spot where the "Lappin's Block" stands. This became the tavern where stopped the travelers crossing the river at this point. Janes first kept the house himself, but was succeeded by Charles Stevens, who also had charge of the ferry which, in the meantime, had been established by Mr. Janes and Aaron Walker. Before there was any ferry boat at this point, teams forded the river at "Big Rock" when the water was sufficiently low. When this could not be done the team swam the river, while the wagon was taken over upon two canoes. Judge Holmes, however, by sawing out lumber with a "whip saw" soon made a scow or ferry boat for crossing the river just below the large bend, some dis- tance from the "Big Rock." A few months later Janes and Walker built their boat, secured a charter and kept their ferry in operation until a bridge was I milt upon the same spot in 1842. In 1837 Hon. E. V. Whiton, Volney Atwood, Charles Stevens and family, Dr. G. Stoughton and family, Seymour Stoughton, Theodore Kendall and wife, Harvey Story, William and Joseph Spaulding, Geo. H. Williston, E. J. Hassard, Geo. R. Ramsey and Daniel A. Richardson and family, were among the settlers in the vicinity. The lands west of the river were brought into the market in 1835, while those east of the river were not brought in until September, 1839. The lauds on the west side were all entered by non-residents who speculated on "their corner lots" in their laid-out towns, but those who settled on the east side of the river where the commercial business of Janesville became established were bona tide settlers, ready to endure the stern realities of pioneer life. Unwilling and unable to pay the advanced price asked by the non-resident owners for the land west of the river, the early actual settlers had to become squatters on the land on the ea.st side of the river still unopened for sale by the Gov- ernment. As the entire community came to hold their land by the same uncer- tain tenure, regular rules gradually developed controlling the acquisition and occupation of claims. By this system every actual settler capable of a day's work was entitled to a claim, one-half section (320 acres), the maximum, and a half quarter (80 acres), the minimum. Men with families were allowed an amount varying with the size of the family. After establishing definitely the limits of the tract claimed some work on the land had to be done. Naturally some difficulties were experienced in locating claims on land prior to the surveys and a peculiar squatters" method was evolved. As "the border law" allowed the squatter to hold a fixed number of acres he was free, upon disposing 376 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of a half-quarter or squatter-section to a new corner to take up as much more and repeat this as often as a sale was made, providing he infringed upon no other's claim. With the filling up of the settlements the lands naturally increased in value, causing many adventurers to become anxious to secure claims. Often attempts were made to take possession of claims already taken up insisting that, as they were neither occupied nor cultivated, the simple furrow ploughed around them did not protect them from occupation. The original squatters had, therefore, to protect themselves against such "jumping of claims." They formed asso- ciations for the mutual adjustment of all disputes. A register was kept of each individual squatter's claim and they together enforced the decisions of their board of arbitration. Their success in organization against the "jumpers" gave them assurance when their lands were, in 1839, at Milwaukee brought into the market and nonresident speculators sought to buy them up at a much higher price than the minimum fixed by the Government. They called meetings in the several settlements and selected one individual in each, to attend the sale as the representative of the settlement and bid in each tract, as it was offered, at its minimum price in the name of the squatter who had claimed it. They threatened with a fight any speculator who insisted on bidding. When neces- sary they even attended the sale in a body, with arms in their hands to overawe the opposition. FIRST SETTLEMENT OF JANESVILLE Henry F. Janes first surveyed and platted, in the spring of 1837, the town which was named Janesville in his honor. It was replatted by the county com- missioners in 1840 after the land was brought into the market. Rock County was not separately organized until the spring of 1839, when the first meeting of the county commissioners was held. Before that, however, Mr. Janes had at the session of the Territorial Legislature at Belmont in the winter of 1836-37 secured the location of the county seat upon the same frac- tional quarter section on which he had located. In 1841 the county commissioners secured D. A. Richardson as the contractor to erect the courthouse and, by January, 1842, it was sufficiently completed to be used. General Wm. B. She"don, a member of the Territorial Legislature, went in 1837 to Washington and secured the location of a post office at Janesville. Henry F. Janes became its first postmaster. On the 23rd day of April, 1837, a single horseman appeared on the bank of Rock River, from Mineral Point, it being Dr. B. B. Carey, the veteran postmaster at Racine who, with the mail for Janesville had arrived to induct the newly appointed postmaster into office. Thereafter, Postmaster Janes fastened a cigar box upon a log in his bar and in that for some months were deposited the mails of Rock County. In August, 1839, Janes, being a typical frontiersman, found too many set- tlers gathering around him. So he moved westward, perpetuating his name in Janesville, Minnesota and Janesville, Iowa, as well. In a letter written by him, December 17, 1866, to the Janesville Gazette from Camp Curtis, Cal., and published in the Gazette, he closes a narrative of his experiences in settling *tA*i*.«.*i< l * at*' 9R^^n^r^phSCa^UH8r ; JANESVILLE IN 1862 Hyatt House and first Tobacco Warehouse 378 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Janesville, Wisconsin, with the following words: "In the fall of 1849 the Pacific Coast put an end to my further progress towards the setting sun, and as I never varied much from north to south my wanderings are at an end. I managed to keep ahead of all railroads and telegraphs, and now, in my sixty- third year, I have never seen a telegraph or railroad." JANESVILLE 's DEVELOPMENT Janesville early established a prominence in commerce and trade in the section. H. F. Janes was the first merchant, keeping for some months a small stock of groceries and drygoods in the third story of his log tavern. Thomas Lappin, however, became the first regular merchant with sign, shelves and counters. Becoming bolder, he agreed to pay one hundred dollars for the lot on which his block was later built. Before the advent of banks, he remitted his funds to Chicago or Galena by stage drivers, or "someone going in" and received in return a piece of calico or factory cloth, a bag of coffee or chest of tea. Daniel A. Richardson opened the second store. By 1834 Charles Stevens and others secured the charter for the location of a dam to utilize the splendid water power at the rapids. The dam was built by H. S. Hanchet, thereby furnishing such extensive water power that before 1850 several mills and factories began operation. The town which began in 1842 with a population of 215 steadily increased until in June, 1850, it had a population of 3,100. It became an incorporated city in 1853. Having their proper New England belief in education, the villagers estab- lished their first school in 1838 in the log schoolhouse on the south side of the bend of the river on the property of Abram C. Bailey. Hiram H. Brown was the first teacher of this, the first school opened in the county. This log school- house of rough hewn logs and seats of basswood slabs was used until 1843, when another log house was used until the erection of the red frame schoolhouse of the joint districts of Rook and La Prairie in 1844, a full half mile east of the first school. Orrin Guernsey was the first teacher in this new frame building. The settlement near Janes' tavern and ferry opened a school in a log house in the woods near North Main Street three rods north of East Milwaukee Street. Miss Cornelia Sheldon (later Mrs. Isaac Woodle) taught the first terms here in 1840. In 1845 a brick building was erected on Division Street. In 1843 a charter was granted to A. Hyatt Smith, E. V. Whiton, J. B. Doe, Chas. Stevens and W. H. Bailey for the establishment of the Janesville Acad- emy. With the erection of a stone building on High Street, near Milwaukee Street, on the site of the present Lincoln school, the academy opened in 1814 with Rev. Thomas J. Ruger, an Episcopalian clergyman, as principal. Here many of the business men of an earlier generation received their education. It became known in the early '50s as the Janesville Collegiate Institution. Pur- chased by the city in 1855, it was used for public school purposes until 1876 when it was replaced by the present Lincoln school. The Methodists were the first to establish preaching in Janesville. As early as 1841 a Methodist class was formed by Rev. Mr. McKane, preacher on this circuit, and J. P. Wheeler established as leader. Their first church and par- sonage were erected in 1842, replaced by other buildings in 1848. ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, JANESVILLE 380 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY The Trinity Episcopalian Church of Janesville was organized with six com- municants during the ministry of Rev. Thomas J. Ruger. A new house of wor- ship was built of brick in 1848. The First Baptist Church was organized in 1844 under the ministry of Rev. Jeremiah Murphy. Their church was built in 1851. Regular preaching was begun by the Congregationalists in 1844 by Rev. C. H. A. Bulkley who on Feb. 11, 1845, assisted by Rev. S. Peet, organized the first Congregational Church of Janesville. By 1850 a brick church was erected and dedicated. While the community received occasional visits from the Catholic priest of Geneva, Walworth County, the first Catholic Church was not organized in Janesville until 1850. Universalist preachers occasionally visited Janesville as early as 1842 and in 1845 Rev. C. F. La Fevre of Milwaukee delivered a series of discourses while Rev. F. Whittaker, the next year, began preaching alternately in Janesville and Beloit. In 1855 Rev. M. W. Staples assisted by Rev. Messrs. Savage, Park and Gardiner, organized the First Presbyterian Church of Janasville with twelve members. The first number of the Janesville Gazette, the earliest newspaper, appeared on August 14, 1845. It was published by Levi Alden and E. A. Stoddard. The firm soon changed to Alden & Thompkins to be superseded by Alden alone, later by Alden and Charles Holt. It continued a stanch whig paper until the organ- ization of the republicans in 1854 when it became the organ of that party. General G. W. Crabb established the Rock County Democrat in 1846 but changed its name to the Freesoil Democrat in 1848. Later, under the firm name of Crabb & Brown it became Badger State to become later the Democratic Standard. In 1853 the Janesville Free Press began and had various proprietors during the '50s. In February, 1841, the contract was let to D. A. Richardson for the building of the first courthouse which was completed and ready for occupancy in Decem- ber of the next year. It was located back of the present courthouse. A log jail was erected in 1842 on Main Street opposite the Lewis Knitting Company's building, remaining there only a few years when another jail was built in the Courthouse park. Charles Stevens, Thomas Lappin and W. H. H. Bailey built, in 1842, the first bridge over Rock River operating it for the tolls for nearly ten years. Elbridge G. Fifield began the first lumberyard in 1843, since which time one has been in continuous operation by the same Fifield family. Coming from A r ermont in 1837, Elbridge G. Fifield presented a claim about three miles from Jefferson. Working in the winters getting out logs and in a lumber yard at Bark River, he, in the spring, rafted the lumber down the river going as far south as Dixon, Illinois. Prior to his establishment of his yard at Janesville, he sold the lumber from these rafts when they floated through Janesville. In 1844 Daniel A. Richardson erected the first brick block for business pur- poses, it constituting a portion of the block where M. Bostwick & Sons' store is now on Main Street. On the Fourth of July, 1844, a regular Mississippi River boat 130 feet THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 381 long reached Janesville, where it took on the major part of the population for an excursion to Jefferson. Reaching Fort Atkinson, the proprietors of a bridge across the river were induced to remove a portion of it to allow the boat to pass. The excursion party stopped over night at Jefferson and returned to Janesville the next day. The boat remained at Janesville some weeks, running excursions therefrom but in the fall the captain returned with it to the Missis- sippi, thereby ending navigation from the Mississippi up the Rock. The Rock County House was opened by Volney Atwood in 1844 at the corner of Main and Court streets, to be succeeded soon by a Mr. Blood who was later followed by Sol Hudson, who ran the hotel as the American House until it burned in 1868. As early as 1845, brick-making was begun in Janesville. The Big Mill, located just north of Milwaukee Street on the river and raceway, was erected thai year by .James McClurg for A. Hyatt Smith and others to be operated upon completion by the firm of Smith, Walker & Doe. Its initial operation on Jan- uary 2(>. 1847, was a great event. Grain had been brought from many distant points in the state to be ground and a large gathering assembled to view the first working of the machinery which performed its task in admirable fashion. Tie 1 mill was 50x80 feet, four stories high and attic, with six runs of stone. In 1849 the Parmer's Mills were completed, having been started in the fall of 1847. Other mills were built in 1848-41), among which was the Whittaker Woolen Mill which began operation in 1850. E. V. Whiton became Janesville 's representative at the second State Con- stitutional Convention held in December, 1847, at which a constitution was adopted and ratified by the people in 1848, resulting in the admission of Wis- consin into statehood. In 1848 Charles Stevens built, at the corner of Milwaukee and Franklin streets, the Stevens House which was operated as a hotel until it burned in 1853. In the spring of the year 1848, James Sutherland opened the first book store in Janesville. It has been run continuously by the father and sons to the pres- ent day, being the oldest store of its kind in the state. Twice mayor of Janes- vilh. .lames Sutherland was also a State senator, member of the School Board and the author, as senator, of the bill under which Wisconsin normal schools were established. At the first State election held in 1848 Edward V. Whiton was elected judge of the First Judicial District of the State, comprising Racine, Walworth, Bock and Green counties. An accomplished lawyer from Massachusetts, he had moved to Janesville in 1837 and, despite his retiring disposition, had had his ability discovered and been forced to become a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1838, continuing therein to the time of the admission of the Slate. He was the principal compiler of the Statutes of 1839 and was most largely instrumental as a member of the judicial committee of the Second Constitutional Convention in framing the adopted constitution. He was elected ehief justice of the Supreme Court in 1852, continuing in that position until his death, April 12, 1889. In 1849 an Asylum for the Blind was established in Janesville, first by private parties; holding its first term in one of Ira Miltimore's buildings on Center Avenue near the Monterey bridge. Later in 1850 it was transferred to 382 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the residence of Mrs. H. Hunter on Jackson Street. "With the donation of ten acres by Captain Miltimore, a building was erected on its present site and soon thereafter the state assumed charge. To Josiah F. Willard, the father of Prances Willard, the famous temperance advocate and founder of the W. C. T. U., is given great credit for securing this School for the Blind for Janesville. Mr. Willard settled on a farm in 1846, a little south of where the school is located, living there until 1858. By October, 1849, a daily mail service between Milwaukee and Janesville was established. With the mails all carried by stage; there were nine mail routes crossing Janesville so that the arrival and departure of the stages gave a lively appearance to the town. By 1850 the town had grown to a population of 3,100, having increased about 1,300 in a little over a year. Much building was done in 1851. Ensign H. Bennett and J. F. Clapp erected a three-story building on Main Street, now a part of Bostwick's store. The Ogden House, a five-story building on the northerly side of Milwaukee Street between Main and Bluff, was built by J. M. May to be used as a hotel after the burning of the Stevens House. S. D. Smith and William M. Tallman built the Tallman Block on Milwaukee Street. In the same year the first State Fair was held in Janesville on the prairie east of the courthouse park where the George McKey and C. S. Jaekman residences are now located. At least 5,000 people attended and the net receipts of $254 were divided equally between the State and the County associations. JANESVILLE INCORPORATED AS A CITY In 1853 Janesville was incorporated as a city with practically its present boundaries, including four sections of the town of Janesville, two of the town of Rock, one section in La Prairie and two in the town of Harmony. At the first election A. Hyatt Smith was elected mayor. From his arrival in 1837 he became unusually prominent in all activities interested in waterpower and rail- road projects, Becoming attorney-general of the territory, he held the office until the admission of the state into the union. Owning most of the land on the west side of the river and much property in Janesville, he was estimated to be worth, at one time, over $1,000,000. On January 5, 1853, the city celebrated the completion of the Mississippi and Milwaukee Railway, although the first locomotive did not arrive in Janes- ville until January 10th when it stopped at the depot on the bluff east of the present gas works, in charge of Engineer John C. Fox. The plan of Mayor Smith for a railway from Janesville to the Mississippi brought, in the summer of 1853, two delegations to Janesville ; one from Galena and the other from Dubuque, advocating different routes. Judge Fifield reports that the teamster, who drove the wagon that brought the first party, registered at the old American Hotel as U. S. Grant and team, Galena. The venerable city clerk, James Birgess, subsequently said: ''Whether the driver of the team and the late President Grant are identical, I have no means of knowing. After the meeting adjourned, the two delegations invited me to a dinner which lasted well along towards daybreak. Rumor says one of the party, when the time came for the Galena delegation to leave for home, was heard to propose to another JOSTAH F. WILLARD Father of Francos Willard TIIK WIL Ij.MiI' II )M E N EAi; .IANKSVILLE 384 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY that they should send for Ulysses. "Let him sleep" was the reply, "it's better for him and us too. ' ' With the arrival on June 25, 1855, of the two hand fire engines, the first regular parade of the fire department occurred. Parading in full uniform of leather helmets, red shirts and black pants with red top boots, they made an attractive appearance. On the Fourth of July the Milwaukee Fire Com- pany No. 3 participated with them in the celebration. In October, 1855, two enduring banks were started in Janesville. The Central Bank, now the First National, began with 0. W. Norton its first presi- dent and William A. Lawrence, its cashier. The Rock County Bank organized as a state bank with Timothy Jackman as president, Andrew Palmer, vice- president, and J. B. Crosby, cashier. It became a national bank in 1865, since which time it has been the Rock County National Bank. William Hutson built a four-story brick block north of McKey's on the east side of Main Street. The four-story block begun by Peter Myers, also in 1855, was not finished until 1858. It is south of the present Myers House. A portion of the five-story building on East Milwaukee Street, east of the Ogden House, was built by Sanford Williams; the balance of the block's two stories was built by Nelson Hulburt in 1849 ; and in 1855, the balance raised three stories, making the whole five stories in height. Janesville certainly took on a metropolitan air with its imposing buildings and over 7,000 population. In 1856 two new bridges were erected. The Janesville Gas Company com- menced operations, the fire department was enlarged, and the first passenger train on the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railway, now the Chicago & North Western, arrived in Janesville. On October 1, 1859, Abraham Lincoln made a political speech in Janesville in Young America Hall. Brought to the city from Beloit by Hon. A. A. Jackson, he was entertained while there by W. M. Tallman. By the beginning of 1860 Janesville had a population of over 7,000, with a well built-up Main Street and East and West Milwaukee streets. The Myers House was being built and the large Hyatt House, the old American House at the corner of Court and Main streets, the Ogden House and other smaller hotels served well the traveling public. Eleven flour mills, with a total of 24 runs of stone and a yearly manufacturing capacity of 200,000 barrels of flour, were located on the upper and lower power plants. A plow factory and foundry, a sash and door plant and two woolen mills, were also active. On North Frank- lin Street a steam operated plant of the Western Novelty Works had been built by Joseph H. Budd ; while on South River and Center streets was a large man- ufacturing plant which was the nucleus of the later Janesville Machine Company. A number of fine and costly residences were the homes of prominent citizens. On the east side Timothy Jackman had a large brick dwelling east of the courthouse park, now owned by George McKey. Morris C. Smith's residence stood south of the park on the east side of Division Street, J. J. R. Pease owned the house on the knoll on the corner of Prospect Avenue and Cornelia Street, while at the top of the hill on Milwaukee Street, stood the finished brick house of A. C. Bates. A. Hyatt Smith had his residence on North Bluff Street; and above it was the large Isaac Woodle home. Chas. II. Conrad had a large resi- dence on South Main Street. On the west side were the notable residences of THE BOCK RIVER VALLEY 385 Andrew Palmer on the corner of Academy and Pleasant streets, and the Wil- liam Tallman home on the north end of Jackson Street. Several stage lines still ran through the city although railway connections with Milwaukee, Chicago, Monroe and Oshkosh existed. JANESVILLE IN THE CIVIL WAR With the outbreak of the Civil war, Janesville naturally became engaged in war service. .Many volunteers responded to Lincoln's initial call. Two army camps were located at Janesville — one, Camp Cameron where the cavalry was recruited, was located on the old Fair Grounds and the other, Camp Treadway, for the Infantry at the Fair Grounds on Milwaukee Avenue. The first company left for Camp Randall, at Madison on May 6, 1861. This company, D, Second Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers, under the captaincy of Geo. B. Ely, passed through Janesville on the way to Washington. The ladies of the city provided them with a dinner for which tables were set in a grove occupying the site of Schaller & McKey's lumberyard on Center Avenue. On .1 une 22nd of the same year, Company E of the Fifth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers, with II. M. Wheeler as captain, composed of the Janesville Light Guards, left for Camp Randall. Mustered into United States service on July 13, 1861, they continued until July 16, 1865. Another company, G, of the Eighth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers under the captaincy of W. B. Britton, largely constituted from the Janesville fire department, left the same year for Madison. During the war Captain Britton became colonel of the famed Eagle Regiment which bore "Old Abe," the famous Wisconsin eagle. From volunteers from Rock and Walworth counties, the Thirteenth Regi- ment was recruited and entered service in August, 1861. Captain Edward Ruger of Company A, Captain E. E. Woodman of Company B, Captain F. F. Stevens of Company F, Captain Pliny Norcross of Company K, were all from Janesville. Norcross was the first student to enlist from the University of Wisconsin. Company E, of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, went into camp at Spring- brook in December, 1861, remaining there until March of the next year. It was recruited in and around Janesville with Ira Dustin, Jr., as captain. Com- pany of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry, had Nathaniel Parker as captain. With Ex-Governor William A. Barstow as colonel, the Third Wisconsin Cavalry left the Janesville camp for the southwest in March of 1862. The Twelfth Wisconsin Battery of sixty men, under Lieutenant E. G. Harlow, left Janesville August 20, 1862, in time to be active in the battle of Iuka, Mississippi, September 19, 1862. Leaving the city on September 29, 1862, Company E of the Third Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers, under Ira Milti- more. were mustered into service at Racine October 18th. Company A, Fortieth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, under Captain S. D. Lockwood, was the last regiment to leave Janesville, on May 17, 1864. Drs. Henry Palmer and J. B. Whiting were also army surgeons. In 1861 the Myers Hotel was opened for service, having been built by Peter Myers who at first personally conducted it. Having accumulated a 386 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY considerable fortune since his arrival in 1845, in the meat and packing busi- ness, he devoted himself to the development of the city ; building in addition to the hotel, several stores on Main Street, the Opera House and the Armory building. In the closing five years of the '60s, an epidemic of fires seems to have seized Janesville. Beginning in 1865 with the Roethinger brewery at the foot of South Main Street, fire next destroyed, in 1867, the Hyatt House, in 1868 the American House and the Fredondall block, on South Main and Court streets. Naturally an agitation began which resulted in the purchase of two steam fire engines. In 1869 Dr. Wm. P. Duvalle was arrested for the poisoning of his wife at the boarding house where the Grand Hotel is now located. He was con- victed and sentenced to Waupun for life. In 1870 the present courthouse was finished at a total cost of about $75,000. In 1874 there was launched in the establishment of the Janesville Cotton Manufacturing Company an enterprise which for many years was of great importance to the city. The company was organized with an initial capital of $125,000 which was later increased to $500,000. The suggestion of a cotton factory came from Frank Whittaker who aided greatly in its establishment. The officers were O. B. Ford, president; J. J. R. Pease, vice president; F. S. Eldred, treasurer, and William A. Lawrence, secretary. Two large buildings were erected and fitted with the necessary machinery, between North Franklin and River streets. Later, in 1883, another large factory building and power plant southwest of the woolen mills in Monterey on the lower water power, were erected at an additional cost of $250,000. Expert cottonmen from North Adams, Massachusetts, in the persons of A. J. Ray and Chester Bailey were secured ; the latter becoming superintendent of the mills. Doing a large business for many years, they made in 1878 over 5,000,000 yards of sheeting valued at $300,000, had a pay roll of $70,000, employing nearly 400 hands. Increasing further their output, they found that the excessive freight rates on cotton and the high price paid operatives brought them financial difficulties resulting in the forma- tion of a new corporation, the Janesville Cotton Mills, which took over the business, ran it for some years only to be compelled to succumb, selling the plant to the Janesville Electric Company. A great social event in the form of a charity ball was held upon the com- pletion of the main building in 1875. According to the "Gazette" at least 4,000 people attended it, February 9, 1875. Beginning with exercises held on the first floor at which Dr. Palmer, Pliny Norcross, Judge Bennett and others made speeches, it ended with the ball proper on the third floor at which 768 persons were dancing at one time. Additional buildings were erected during these years and changes in man- ufacturing interest made ; notably the acquisition by Geo. C. McLean of the Payne and Hastings Woolen Mills and his operating the same, with an increased output, as the New McLean Manufacturing Company. The mills are still running as the Rock River Woolen Mills. Colonel Burr Robbins purchased the old Doty farm and old fair grounds at the bend of the river in the Southeastern part of the city in 1874 and estab- lished there the winter quarters for his Great American and German Allied (Through the courtesy of the Rex Studio, Janesville) LAKE KOSHKOXOXG, UPPER WATERS OF THE ROCK RIVER (ThrouEh the courtesy of the Rex Studio, Janesville) PBANCES WILLABD SCHOOL, THEEE MILES SOUTH OF JAXESVILLE Views iii the Upper Boek River Valley Vol. 1—25 388 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Shows. Here his circus wintered until the late '80s. Busy in its winter prep- arations for the coming season, the animals afforded a great source of enter- tainment; while the first performance of the circus was always given in Janes- ville. The Merchants and Mechanics Savings Bank was organized in 1875, as the first savings bank in Janesville. Steadily growing, it is now housed in a remod- eled building beautifully finished in white marble and mahogany. After the burning of the Williams House in 1877, David Jeffris built in 1879 the present Grand Hotel on the same site. Opening for business in 1880, the Grand has now for many years been efficiently conducted by J. F. Sweeney. Mr. Jeffris ran a lumber yard for years just south of the Grand Hotel building. He is reported as having erected over four hundred buildings in the city. In 1877 the manufacture of cigar boxes and cigar box lumber was begun in Janesville by John Thoroughgood and F. Stevens; other factories were soon added. The Janesville Shoe Manufacturing Company began operations in 1875 at the corner of South Main and South Second streets. Incorporated as the Wis- consin Shoe Company in 1878, it operated for several years doing an annual business of $200,000. Other shoe factories arose experiencing varying vicissi- tudes. One, however, owned by Mr. Marzluff is still running. With the '80s the handling of leaf tobacco began to assume considerable importance as an industry. It increased steadily until today several firms have millions of dollars invested in it. The assorting and handling of the crop gives employment to over a thousand men and women for several months of the year. In more recent years, the stemming of the lower grades of leaf for export purposes has occasioned the erection of large warehouses by M. F. Green Company and other firms. The electric light first appeared in Janesville in 1880 with the incorporation of the Light Company by Dr. Henry Palmer, W. T. Van Kirk and others. Captain Pliny Norcross, purchasing it later, enlarged the plant, but sold out in 1904 to a company composed of M. G. Jeffris, Lewis Carle, T. O. Howe, Stanley B. Smith and George Sutherland who further extended the plant. Buy- ing the water power and buildings of the old Janesville Cotton Manufacturing Company, the Ford Milling Company and others, they secured control of the major portion of the water power of the city. They built a modern power plant on the site of the old Ford mill at the west end of the upper dam and, also, reconstructed the plant on the lower water power. The company later estab- lished a central plant for the furnishing of steam to a number of business blocks near the Milwaukee Street bridge. A business begun by Chester Bailey in 1880 as the Badger State Warp Mills, after some changes was incorporated in 1902 as the Rock River Cotton Com- pany. It occupies nearly a whole block between Franklin, River, Wall and West Bluff streets, owned and operated by T. O. and Fred Homer. In 1881, James Harris, J. B. Crosby and others incorporated the Janesville Machine Company with an initial capital of $100,000. They took over the business of the Harris Manufacturing Company in January, 1882. Their busi- ness of manufacturing agricultural implements has grown steadily, causing several increases in their capitalization, number of employees and output. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 389 Prior to 1SS0, .lames Harris had invented a safety oil lamp, forming with D. P. Smith the firm of Harris & Smith for its manufacture. They were soon shipping an annual output of $30,000 of the lamps to various parts of the world. The firm in 1885 began the manufacture of barbed wire nails and woven wire fencing. Since 1903 it has been conducted by the Harrises as the Janesville Barbed Wire Company. The Janesville Telephone Company opened the first exchange with sixteen subscribers. Upon becoming a part of the Wisconsin Bell Telephone Company it was granted a city franchise in 1892; since w r hich time it has made required improvements and enlargements. The Chicago &, North Western Railway Company built a line, in 1880, from Janesville to Afton, affording, thereby, better connections with Madison and the northwest. At the same time another outlet to Chicago, Racine and western Illinois was given by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, building a line from Janesville to Beloit. The Janesville Municipal Court was established in 1881, taking over the work of the police justices with an increase of jurisdiction. L. E. Patten was the first judge of this court, followed by H. A. Patterson and M. M. Phelps. The present generation, however, knows only Judge Charles L. Fifield, first elected in 1899. The Janesville Street Railway Company was granted a franchise in 1885 to build a horse railway. The line began the operation of cars in 1886, con- tinuing as a horse railroad until 1892, when it was equipped with electric mo- tive power. Work on the building of a railroad line from Janesville to Evansville was begun in 1885 and completed the next year when it was deeded to the Chicago and North Western. Janesville as a city contributed $40,000 and found it a good investment. For many years the original line from Chicago to Oshkosh was considered the main line of the North Western system. In time, however, the line running through Madison by way of Beloit and Afton, became the main line to St. Paul and the northwest. With the building of the Janesville-Evans- villc line, the distance from Chicago to St. Paul was shortened by so many miles that the line running through Janesville has become the highway for the greater part of the traffic. The running time to Chicago was considerably cut and train service increased, resulting in enlarging greatly the importance of Janesville as a railroad center. The practice of erecting buildings over the Rock River, started earlier by Peter .Myers, was continued by E. P. Carpenter and others in 1887. The water power owners secured a State law declaring building over the river a nuisance; so. when Carpenter undertook to erect another building over the river, court proceedings were begun against him under this state measure. The Supreme Court, however, in 1890 declared the law unconstitutional and dissolved the temporary injunction against Carpenter. The building was then completed, to he followed by several others similarly placed. An effort to stop such building over the river in Beloit has likewise failed. Turner, Clark and Lawson completed acceptably the Water Works station in 1888. In the '90s the city voted down its option of purchase of the plant and, in consequence, Janesville, like Beloit, operates under a private company. 390 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY With 1889, flat buildings for residential purposes began with the erection by Hiram Merrill of the Waverly Block on North Main Street. Since that time numerous have been the additions of apartment buildings in various sections of the city. During the early '90s a building boom set in and many additions to the city were platted. The Carringtons, George L. and his wife Sarah H., began the Riverview Park addition in 1889, platting also several others. With streets built, sidewalks laid and grading done, they encouraged the building of homes by selling the lots on easy terms. A building and loan association was formed to facilitate purchase, but the panic of 1893 stopped the operations of the Car- ringtons in Janesville. Previously Janesville men platted the Forest Park addition but this had developed slowly. On the west side of the river, much of the residence portion was platted by A. Hyatt Smith and others, as Smith, Bailey & Stone's addition, within a year or two after the original plat of the village was made. It is stated that this firm bought land, previous to the platting, at the ridiculously low price of twelve dollars per acre. " Get- rich-quick- Wallingford " appeared in the person of John W. Hamilton. Purporting to bring large factories to Janesville from Springfield, Ohio, large buildings were erected in different parts of the city for the Champion Shelf Manufacturing Company, the Family Friend Publishing Company and others, all of which have faded into nothingness since the bubble burst. In 1891, George S. Parker began very modestly a fountain pen company which today is probably more widely known than any other establishment of the city. Associating with himself W. F. Palmer, the concern has grown enor- mously, having been compelled frequently to enlarge its quarters. It is today doing an annual business of $5,000,000. In 1893 the county purchased the Barker farm, a little north of the city, and removed from Johnstown the county insane and poor inmates to the newly built quarters in 1894. In 1895, the Y. M. C. A. building was completed and a new high school erected. Ground for a new Y. M. C. A. has already been broken to be erected with the $275,000 fund contributed by the citizens of Janesville. The city has just replaced the old high school by a new $1,000,000 model building — the pride of the city. In October, 1896, Superintendent of Schools D. D. Mayne, with the aid of thirty business men, founded the Twilight Club which has grown to a member- ship of 160 and a waiting list. Meeting monthly from October to April with dinner served at six o'clock and a discussion of topics of general interest under prominent leadership, the club has become the parent of similar clubs in other Wisconsin cities. Golf appeared in Janesville in 1895, the credit for its introduction belonging to Alexander Galbraith. He had brought a set of clubs from Scotland in 1893 but did not succeed in interesting others until 1895. Grounds were then leased from H. S. Woodruff, the Sinnissippi Golf Club incorporated, in October, 1896. In 1898, 93 acres of ground were purchased from the Woodruff estate and a reincorporation formed under the name of the Janesville Country Club. With 392 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY many improvements to the grounds, Janesville has one of the best nine-hole courses in the state. In 1899 the Hayes brothers, Dennis and Michael, purchased the Lappin block at the southwest corner of Main and Milwaukee streets, rebuilt it with elevator service, thus giving the city its first modern building. This led to the remodeling of the Jackman block at the east end of Mil- waukee Street bridge across from the Hayes block which Timothy Jackman had erected in 1860 as a four-story building. In the rebuilding, another story was added. To these two new office buildings, a large number of the doctors and lawyers of the city soon came to have their offices. Beginning with 1900, Janesville inaugurated some systematic improvements in its streets. Macadam streets, cement gutters and curbs were thereafter laid each year, while cement sidewalks put in their appearance. Brick paving and brick cross walks were adopted and the usual worthlessness of block paving for heavy traffic was shown. The past few years, however, have been those of greatest strides and today the streets are becoming quite generally paved with asphalt or concrete. The new county jail was completed in 1900 and a soldier's monument erected in the Courthouse park the next year. Soon after the public library, city hall and post office were erected. As early as 1865 the acquisition of a library was started. Growing slowly until it consisted of 2,500 volumes, the Women's clubs of the City, in 1882, suc- ceeded in raising sufficient money, through the help of Burr Robbins who donated the receipts of his circus at Janesville, to buy the library and make it a free circulating one. In January, 1894, the city adopted it as a city library, undertaking its support, with Mrs. L. S. Best continuing a.s the librarian. With the contribution of $30,000 by Andrew Carnegie in 1901, the site on Main Street opposite the Courthouse park was secured and the present building erected. In the World war Janesville responded to every call in the same generous manner as did the county generally. Naturally as the county seat city its enter- prising citizens, both men and women, performed innumerable services; loyally did its draft board, liberty loan and other committees serve. FIRST SETTLEMENT OF BELOIT The first steps in the permanent settlement of Beloit were taken in 1835. Caleb Blodgett of Randolph, Vermont, on his first visit found Thibault in pos- session, claiming an indefinite extent of territory. He purchased for $250 all of Thibault 's claims on the east side of Rock River, comprising, as Blodgett thought, about ten sections of land. Returning in 1836 with his wife, Phoebe Kidder, his sons, Nathaniel and Daniel, and his son-in-law, John Hackett, he constructed, with the aid of Indians, who still lingered on the west side of the river near the east bank (in the rear of what is now 322 State street) a log cabin of two rooms separated by a passageway ; one room being for his family, and the other for prospectors and help. Blodgett, assuming that his squatter's claim would later be protected by purchase from the Government, sold one-third to Charles F. II. Goodhue, who, in turn, sold half of his purchase to John Doolittle and T 1 1 E ROCK RIVER VALLEY 393 Charles Johnson. Blodgett and Goodhue built a sawmill and, in the spring of 1837, turned the water into the mill race and sawed their first boards. Their dam was built on Turtle Creek with its raceway dug along under the south side of the bluff and extending southwestward along the south side of the pres- ent, St. Paul Avenue until it led into Turtle Creek at the site of the mill three or four rods west of present South State Street. Lucius G. Fisher also came to Beloit in 1837. He had started from Milwau- kee for the lead region but meeting at Watertown with Goodhue, a former acquaintance, he was induced to journey with him in a dugout to New Albany, now Beloit. Fisher bonghl one-fourth of Goodhue's purchase and became the owner thereby of one-sixth of the whole Blodgett claim. Goodhue, about this time, erected a grist-mill on Turtle Creek, believed to be the tirst similar mill ever elected in the state. To it customers came from dis- tances of over one hundred miles. In the '50s it was still operated by the son, William T. Goodhue. DR. HORACE WHITE AND THE NEW ENGLAND EMIGRATION SOCIETY With the arrival in Beloit in February, 1837, of Dr. Horace White, the agent of the New England Emigration Company, began an event big in import to the beginning of Beloit. In Colebrook, N. H., in October, 1836, this company was formed by the following fourteen members: Cyrus Eames, 0. P. Bicknell, Asahel B. Home, Leonard Hatch, David J. Bundy, Ira Young, L. C. Beech, S. G. Colley, G. W. Bicknell, R. P. Crane, Horace Hobart, Horace White and Alfred Field. They organized for the purpose of assisting in the emigration and founding in the AVest of an agricultural community like the New England village from which they sprang. They sent their agent, Dr. Horace White, to select and purchase a site for the new homes of the company. Thus commis- sioned, Dr. White, then in his twenty-seventh year, left Colebrook in the winter of 1836-37. Promised $100 a month and all of his expenses and the use of a horse and cutter, Dr. White set out and drove through Canada, arriving at Ann Arbor, Michigan, on January 25, 1837. Here he found R. P. Crane, one of the company who had started westward earlier and had arrived at Detroit by steamboat from Buffalo in company with 0. P. Bicknell. From thence the}' had walked to Ann Arbor. Here Crane stopped for a time to replenish his exhausted funds by hiring out as a carpenter. Dr. White journeyed on, taking Bicknell with him as far as Calumet, Illinois. White, reaching Rockford, visited the territory around Turtle Creek, Des Moines, Iowa and Quincy, Illi- nois. He then induced Crane and Bicknell, who had arrived at Rockford, to join him on another tour of inspection of the Turtle. They confirmed his favor- able impressions of the landscape and advised him to secure a purchase there. On March 14th White induced Blodgett to sell one-third of his claim for $2,500. As the land was still in the hands of the Government, what was purchased was Blodgett 's chance that later the Government, under the preemption laws, would recognize the claim and give a patent for it on receiving $1.25 per acre. The part purchased of Blodgett included one hundred acres already under the plow and ready for a crop. 394 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Dr. White then returned to Colebrook to report his progress and dispose of his own property there preparatory to taking up his permanent residence in the west. Upon reaching Colebrook, White found the members pleased with the prospects. Several prepared to start westward ; James Cass and wife going out in the employ of Dr. White. From the diary of Mr. Crane and the old account books of Dr. White, one learns much of the operations of the company. Not a single dispute ever arose between the members of the company in reference to money matters and, ulti- mately, a settlement of the joint enterprise was made to the complete satisfac- tion of everyone. During the first years, the pioneers were often in want of food. The arrival of Alfred Field in July, 1837, with a team of four oxen and a load of four barrels of flour relieved them from severe distress. On another occasion, with their provisions running low, they sent one of their number to Rockford to purchase a barrel of pork which they learned was there for sale. Travel was difficult, due often to the almost impassable conditions of the roads. Stage drivers carried rails with which to pry the coaches out of the mud when the horses could no longer draw the loads. Passengers had to assist or be long delayed in their journey. When driving alone with a team, a man had either to await help or carry his load by piecemeal on his back to dry land, allowing the horses to draw out the empty wagon. Horace White related the experiences of one emigrating party from Cole- brook, the members of which left the steamboat at Detroit and began the cross- ing of the state of Michigan with a team of four horses. So bad were the roads that one of the horses died of fatigue before one-half of the distance across the state had been traversed. Another horse soon afterwards became so exhausted that it could not pull. When they came to the sandhills at the southern end of Lake Michigan, the load had to be lightened in every possible way to save the other horses. Delicate women had to walk in the sand carry- ing their infant children on their backs. Little opportunity was given to stop on the road as the houses were ten to twenty miles apart. With the threaten- ing storms continuous movement was the price of life. At last they reached their journey's end in August, 1837. Many of the women felt the effects of the trip for years afterwards; while some, as Mrs. Crane, never recovered their health. Another party from Bedfoi'd, in the extreme southern part of New Hamp- shire, Colebrook being in the extreme northern part, came early to Beloit insti- gated, undoubtedly, by the New England Company as S. G. Colley, one of its original members, was in the party. Dr. Horace White returned to Beloit in November, 1837, but did not bring his family until later. Three log houses only stood in the town in 1837 ; all used by male workers who were preparing the ground in readiness for the coming of their families. Caleb Blodgett erected a house of boards in 1837, making thereby the beginning of the Rock River House, which occupied the site of the Goodwin House and, later, the Goodwin Block. The White family moved into the old log house vacated by Blodgett. Dr. White soon moved into a board house on the west side of State Street, about half way between Broad and School streets, where he lived until his death, December 23, 1843. THE ROCK RIVER VAT/LEY 395 The late Dr. W. P. Brown, the historian of Beloit, relates the action of the ferry across the Rock River before the building of the central bridge in 1842. "A large tree, jutting out from the bank at the north end of the public landing, north side of Public Avenue, held the east end of the ferry rope which was fastened al the other end to a similar tree on the west side of the river. The rectangular flat-bottomed ferry boat was attached at both ends to this rope by two similar arrangements of rope and pulley and grooved wheel, one for each end of the boat, both wheels moving easily on the long ferry rope and affording a kind of movable anchorage. When the west end attachment was shortened up, making that end of the scow diagonally up stream, the force of the current would slowly push the boat across to the west bank. Then after the wheel rope at the west end was lengthened and that of the other end shortened, causing the east end of the boat to point up stream, the current of the river flowing southward would gradually work the boat back to the east bank." Disliking the Indian name, Turtle and Blodgett's name, New Albany, the earlier village held in 1838 several meetings to decide upon another name. As related by L. G. Fisher, one of the committeemen in the selection of a name, the suggestion was first made that a name be made with the letters of the alphabet drawn by lot. Major Johnson then proposed Ballots hinting that it was the French for beautiful. Fisher, because of their many pleasant recollec- tions of Detroit, desired a name sounding like Detroit. He thereupon spoke the words Balloit, Beloit. The committee approved the latter name. Rock County derived its name from the famous "Big Rock" on the north side of Rock River at Monterey, in Janesville, which rock marked a fording place and was also an old Indian landmark. Prior to the purchases of the New England Company, other earliest pioneers of Beloit included .Major Charles Johnson, -John Doolittle and the Goodhues, father and son, William, the family of Chauncey and Mrs. Tuttle with their four sons, Chester, Frank, William and George; all of whom were induced by Blodgett to come from Meecham's Grove in January, 1837. The widow of the son, George Tuttle, now lives at the northeast corner of Church and Chapin streets. R. P. Crane and 0. P. Bicknell were the first members of the New England Company to arrive, coming March !), 1SI57. Dr. White came March 13th, Henry Mears and wife April loth, with her sister Maria and brother Horace Clark coming a little later. Dr. George and Edward Bicknell arrived in July. 1837, to be followed soon by Mrs. John Ilackett, Alfred L. Field and Ira llersey, Horace Ilobart, Benjamin I. Tenny, Asahel 1>. Howe with wife and daughter, James Cass and wife, Israel C. Cheney, Mrs. R. B. Crane and infant son, Ellery; Thomas Crosby, wife, child, mother and brother. After building for himself the third log house in the place, Crosby moved into the New England Com- pany's boarding house which he and Mrs. Crosby conducted during its first year. He later became a successful farmer and located about five miles directly east of Beloit. Other settlers unconnected witli the New England Company came in 1837. Among these were Walter Warner, Benjamin Cheney, David Noggle, William 396 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Jack, Charles McMesser, surveyor, and Bradford Colley with his widowed sister, Mrs. Ann Jane Atwood, the skilled nurse of many of the pioneer infants. Early in 1838, Samuel B. Cooper and family, John P. Houston (father of the late John E.), Peter R. Field, father of Alfred, and wife, Mrs. Nancy Crane, mother of R. P., and John Burroughs, the teacher, all came to Beloit. Israel Cheney with his wife and five daughters came the same year. The year 1840 brought the Rev. Dexter Clary, the first pastor of the First Congregational church ; Benjamin Brown and wife of Framingham, Mass., and Horace Burchard from New York. Brown started a brickyard east of the village and opened a general store about where 321 State Street now is. In 1844 he built a brick house facing east at the foot of School Street, now 328 and 330 State. Its four tall, white Corinthian columns made it a most conspicuous residence. It is impossible to overemphasize the influence of the lives and character of these first settlers upon the early development and future destiny of the com- munity. Many descendants of the Pilgrims and Puritans, were God-fearing men and women, with unusually strong love for home and country, respect for laws and belief in the worthwhileness of all that is enlightening and ennobling. They, in consequence, wrought into the very fabric and life of the young community basic qualities which displayed themselves thereafter in the model homes, effective public schools and college, religious organizations and business enterprises strength and integrity. The town grew with the development of the farming community around it so that the Territorial Legislature passed the act, February 24, 1846, incor- porating the village of Beloit. On Monday, April 7th, the following first vil- lage officers were chosen: President, Thomas A. Power; trustees, Joseph Colley, Thomas Tuttle, Tyler H. Moore, Ashabel B. Moore; assessors, Charles Mc- Messer, William Stevens, Henry Mears; constables, Otis P. Bicknell, Daniel Blodgett; treasurer, John P. Houston; clerk, John B. Burroughs. The village then had a population of 1,144 with 191 dwelling houses; 340 of the population were natives of New York, 200 of Wisconsin, 177 of Ver- mont and 195 of New Hampshire, 40 of Massachusetts, 24 of Connecticut, 6 of Rhode Island and 28 of Maine. To the late Rev. W. F. Brown, son of Benjamin Brown, we are indebted for the listing of a few of the first things in Beloit. On the ground now occu- pied by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, stood, in 1837, the first large building erected as a lodging and boarding house. The first white woman settler was Mrs. Caleb Blodgett, who arrived in December, 1837, accompanied by her two daughters, thirteen and fifteen years of age. The first death was that of Horace Clark, December 2, 1837. The first girl born to any of the New England Company was Alice J. Moore, December 18, 1838, at what is now 537 Public Avenue. John Hackett opened the first store in his house at the southeast corner of State and School streets in the fall of 1837. David Noggle was the first lawyer. The first survey of the village was begun in 1837 and finished in 1838 by Mr. Kelson. This survey, as found distinctly photo- graphed in W. F. Brown's "Past and Present," p. 43 and less distinctly in his History of Rock County, Vol. I., p. 152, shows the lots owned by Blodgett, Moore, Field, Eames and Cheney. - r a 398 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY EARLY STATE STREET IN BELOIT From the account of Ellery B. Crane of Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of R. P. Crane, one is able to visualize State Street, the main business street of Beloit. Beginning 1 at the south end, blacksmith shops were located on either side, with a saloon on the west side just over the Illinois line. Proceeding northward on the east side of the street, came Goodhue's boarding house, not far from the mill race. Then John C. Burr's tinshop; after which the home of Mrs. Crandall, with its millinery shop in the front room. The old Beloit House came next in order at the southeast corner of present State Street and St. Paul Avenue. At the corner on the north side of St. Paul Avenue was the residence of R. P. Crane. Crane's stone block followed next, in which was the office of Dr. George W. Bicknell and where Mathew Carpenter had his first law office. C. 0. Green's billiard rooms were in the second. A tailor shop, Carey and Gordon's drug store, Hoskin ? s shoe shop, Hollister's grocery, Tibals & Stocking, George Stocking's harness shop followed one another in the order named with the latter located on the southeast corner of Broad and State streets. Mr. Battin's house stood on the northeast corner of Broad and State until, in the last of the '50s, Hanchett's block replaced it. It was in Hanchett's hall that Lincoln spoke October 1, 1859. Webster and Rogers occupied the one-story building next, after which came Allison's shoe store, later conducted by Lib- erty Rawson and Isaac Thayer. About 1849, Pentland & Harmon had their grocery business next. Several small wooden stores stood along the street con- taining for a time a printing office and a book store. A stone block of stores then extended to School Street, occupied by Poole, Manchester & Wadsworth, N. Powell, A. Baldwin and others. On the opposite side of School Street stood the Bushnell House with Pierson and Janvrin proprietors. Built on the site of the old Rock River House, it was kept for two years by Mr. Dunbar while the Rock River House was moved to the southeast corner of State Street and Public Avenue and kept as a hotel for a few years longer and then as a paper warehouse. On the west side of State Street, proceeding south, Benjamin Brown's block of stores was occupied by groceries and shoe stores. Brown's residence stood about three rods back at what is now 328 and 330 State Street, the block of stores being north of his front yard. South of the yard was a two-story build- ing in which Brown carried on a general mercantile trade up to 1848. Then it became Simm's drug store. A. P. Waterman's hardware store, Laramy's grocery, Day and Andrew's fruit store came in order on the way southward. Sherman's jewelry store, later so long to be Howard's, was followed by Wright and Newcomb's book and stationery store, C. Thompson's grocery, H. R. Moore & Son, dry goods, David Bundy and Alfred Field's drug store, with the Stone block of stores reaching to Broad street. In this block were located Clinton Babbitt, Fisher, Bundy and Cheney, and Fisher and Winchester's hardware. Crossing Broad and continuing south one came to McElheny's tailor shop, later Collin's drug store, Nels Howard's restaurant, Smith & Rust, grocers; E. D. Murray, dry goods; Benjamin Selleck, hats, caps and furs; Peters and Jones, photographers. Then the post office was reached, later to be the location THE ROCK RIVER VAU,KY 399 in which L. C. Hyde started his bank. Willard's watch and clock repair shop was at the corner of St. Paul Avenue. E. I). .Mu nay's block stood on the corner south of St. Paul Avenue. Here stood as early as 1841 the store of Field & Lusk, carrying the largest stock of dry goods in town. In Murray Hall on the top floor of the building was held all of the important concerts and parties. To the south came Collins & Son's drug store, then A. B. Carpenter's residence adjoining his store and Hauser, the baker, on the other side. The Goodhue Block and a wooden store came next with Frank Salisbury's coffee house the last place on the west side of the street. EARLY MANUFACTURES Beloit early became the home of several industrial and manufacturing enter- prises. In 1856 Wright & Merrill established the Beloit Paper Mill Company which absorbed its competitor, the Rock River Paper Company in 1868, under the corporate name of the Rock River Paper Company, with S. T. Merrill, president; A. L. Chapin, vice president; H. F. Evans, treasurer, and J. M. Cobb, secretary and superintendent, with their plant on the east side of the river. The same gentlemen, Wright and Merrill, started about the same time at Rockton, the ultimately widely known Northwestern Paper Company with Wright as president, resident of Beloit, and W. H. Wells vice president and J. C. Xewcomb secretary and treasurer, with offices at Chicago, the chief dis- tributing point. Booth-Hinman & Co. began their wholesale paper mill plant in 1871 to see it grow in a few years to large proportions while the F. N. Davis Company arose in 1875, manufacturing building paper, pails, etc. This, to- gether with the Beloit Straw Board Company, was located at the west end of the dam. The Merrill & Hinman Iron Works of 1873 was the outgrowth of a business begun by 0. E. Merrill in 1860. Parker & Stone, as early as 1849, began the manufacture of farming im- plements as did later the Appleby Twine Binder, the invention of a Beloit man. X. I). Gaston, in 1844, began the manufacture of scales, which, with en- largement and changes in ownership, has continued to the present day. In I860 John Thompson, with the manufacture of his first plows, began the establishment of the business of J. Thompson & Company, which long thrived as the manufacturers of plows, cultivators and other farm implements. With the manufacture of shoes as early as 1870, the John Foster Com- pany advanced rapidly to its long maintained foremost position in its line, with its national reputation for fine workmanship. The glove and mitten factory of II. J. Leonard & Company, begun early and reorganized in 1866, still continues as the Beloit Glove and Mitten Com- pany with the late G. Elmer Thompson long its manager. John Ilackett built his flour mill in 1848 and was succeeded by Blodgett & Nelson in 1857; while the old Brooks mill on Turtle Creek, called the Stone Mill, was in operation about 1859. 400 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY CHURCH HISTORY While public religious services were held continuously from the arrival of the New England Company in 1837, the First Congregational Church of Beloit was not organized until December 30, 1838. With Rev. W. M. Adams officiating, this took place in the kitchen at the east end of Caleb Blodgett's house on the northeast corner of State and School streets. The corner stone of their first church "the old stone church" was laid July 6, 1842, at the northeast corner of Broad and Prospect streets and the building completed in 1842. It was indeed an imposing structure. It was made of hammered limestone, covered with a simple bell tower, having in front, as it faced Broad Street, a spacious portico adorned with four Ionic columns and steps the whole width of the front, leading directly up from the sidewalk. In its base- ment was housed for a time Beloit Seminary and there, in 1847, S. I. Merrill taught the first freshman class of Beloit College. The building was modified and enlarged in 1852. The present church edifice, on the hill, on the east corner of Church and Bushnell streets, was dedicated on July 6, 1862, and continues to be an out- standing embodiment of old New England in the Middle West. Several had joined the First Congregational Church with the understand- ing that, whenever it became possible to maintain a separate Presbyterian church, they should be permitted to organize one. On March 19, 1849, ac- cordingly, seventeen men and a boy met at the home of Benjamin Brown at the southwest corner of State and School streets (now East Grand Avenue) and arranged for the formation of the church. It was formally organized as the First Presbyterian Church, March 21, 1849. Their first church building, at the southeast corner of Broad and Pleasant streets, was dedicated July 23, 1850. In the fall of 1904, lots were purchased at the southwest corner of Public Avenue and Prospect Street and a new edifice of Norman grey brick and cut stone built and dedicated June 8, 1906. The St. Paul Protestant Episcopal Church was organized on February 28, 1841. Services were held for several years in schoolhouses, but in 1851 their present building was completed and dedicated. While Catholic services began in Beloit as early as 1846, the first Catholic church was not built until 1854. This was used until 1884 when it was de- stroyed by fire. The new building, now known as the St. Thomas Church, was erected in 1886. While the Baptists seem entitled to the credit of holding the first services in Beloit, the First Baptist Church was not actually organized until 1841 and their house of worship built and dedicated in 1848. Rebuilt in 1874 with imposing towers in front, it was burned down April 12, 1884, and rebuilt the next year. The Methodists, like other organizations, held many services in the school- houses until they erected their first church in 1846. Remodelled later, it served until 1904, when the erection of the present building was completed in 1905. The Second Congregational Church Society was organized in 1859. Serviees were held in a hall at the southwest corner of Bluff and Bridge (now West Grand Avenue) until the first building was dedicated in December, 1859, at THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 401 the corner of St. Lawrence and Parker avenues. The present building, at the southeast corner of St. Lawrence and Bluff streets, was begun in 1904 and completed the following year. To the above churches in existence before the Civil war. time has added numerous others as their worthy associates. To the late Horace White, Beloit's distinguished townsman, metropolitan editor and author, we are indebted for the account of educational beginnings in Beloit. The first school Avas held in the kitchen of Caleb Blodgett's house in 1S3S. with John Burroughs, of Orange County, New York, as teacher. The following year a schoolhouse was built, by private subscription, at the northeast corner of School (East Grand Avenue) and Prospect streets. Here, under the teaching of Hazen Cheney, was opened the first public school. In L842 a school was held in the basement of the First Congregational Church by the Rev. L. H. Loss. This was the Beloit Seminary, the charter for which Major Charles Johnson and Cyrus Eames had journeyed to Burlington, Iowa, to obtain in November, 1837. This was then the seat of the Territorial Gov- ernment of the country now embraced in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. "Aunt Jane Moore," the sister of Horace White's mother, was Beloit's first beloved "schoolma'am," holding an infant school at what is now No. 439 St. Paul Avenue. Among the list of worthy pioneer teachers must always be included: Sarah T. Crane, Frances Burchard, Emeline Fisher, Philomela Atwood, Eliza Field, M. F. Cutting, Alexander Stone, Daniel Pinkham, Leonard Humphrey, Mrs. Saxby, Mrs. Dearborn, Mrs. Carr, Cornelia Bradley, Miss Adelaine Merrill, Jonathan Moore. Ackland Jones and Horatio C. Burchard. The first school, on the west side of the river, was opened in 1848 in one room of the frame house at the northwest corner of Third Street and Roose- velt Avenue, and taught by Miss Foot. The next one was located on Fourth Street where the fire station is now and taught by Harriet Burchard and later by Sarah Burchard. In 1852, Rev. Mr. Millet and wife taught on Merrill Street, while later a school was held in the house of John Saxby, on Railroad Street north of St. Lawrence Avenue. In the stone house, now 631 Bluff Street, S. L. James was an early instructor. James W. Strong taught there in 1854 and later B. C. Rogers and his wife. Temporary public school rooms were located in the old Mansion House, now the Thompson Block. The first public school buildings were erected in 1851 on each side of the river. In the brick school house on the east side, James W. Strong began teaching January 12, 1852, with Mrs. Emeline Fisher and Mrs. Carey his associates. The building, with its three stories and a basement, had corkscrew stairways from story to story; one for girls, on the south side, and one on the north side for boys. No. 2 schoolhouse of cut stone, built about 1855 a few rods north of the present Parker school was, for the time, an imposing two story structure with a basement. The first principal of the High School was Alexander Kerr, a graduate of Beloit College. Later, for over thirty years, he was the honored Professor of Greek at the University of Wisconsin. With the organization in 1868 of the initial city school, Beloit began its development of an educational system which has expanded to meet the needs of the growing city. 402 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY HISTORY OF BELOIT COLLEGE Inseparably connected with the early history of Beloit, is the account of the genesis of Beloit College. As the sons of New England began from 1838 to pour into the fertile prairies of Illinois and Wisconsin, it became natural for them to embody their ideas of higher Christian education into institu- tions which would perpetuate them in the future. In the fall of 1843, in the old Stone Church, at the General Presbyterian and Congregational Convention of Wisconsin, the twenty-eight members of the session discussed the plans for a college. Later, in the early summer of 1844, in a little stateroom of the steamer Chesapeake, on Lake Erie, Stephen Peet, Baldwin, J. J. Miter, Gaston Hicks, Bulkley and Aaron L. Chapin, returning delegates from a Cleve- land (Ohio) Convention, renewed the discussion. The Western College Society having been organized, its secretary, Mr. Baldwin, asserted that a hand from the East would be stretched out to help on the establishment of a genuine Christian College in the West. Stephen Peet enlarged on the point so effec- tively that his words kindled hope and enthusiasm in the rest. After earnest consultation and fervent prayer, Beloit College became a living conception. The seven took the responsibility of calling a meeting of the friends of Christian education in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. To that meeting, held in the old Stone Church in Beloit, August 6, 1844, came four from Iowa, twenty-seven from Illinois and twenty-five from Wisconsin. For two days they talked and prayed, closing with the decision that a college and a female seminary should be established, each near the border line. The committee of ten, appointed for consideration and report, met in October of the same year with fifty members. Action was deferred, however, until a third convention was held in May, 1845, at which, with only one dissenting vote among its sixty-eight delegates, the college was located in Beloit. In October, 1845, a fourth convention adopted a charter and elected the first Board of Trustees, as follows: Arastus Kent, Stephen Peet, Dexter Clary, Aaron L. Chapin, Flavel Bascom, Calvin Water- bury, J. D. Stevens, Ruel M. Pearson, George W. Hickok, Augustine Ray- mond, Charles M. Goodsell, Ephraim H. Potter, Lucius G. Fisher, Wait Tal- cott, Charles S. Hempstead, and Samuel Hinman. Of the sixteen, eight were ministers, eight from Wisconsin, and eight from Illinois; eight Presbyterians and eight Congregationalists. While the equality in denominational distribu- tion was accidental, the geographical location was studied. A majority of the ministers were graduates of Yale, whose influence continued in the sub- sequent history of the college. The trustees met immediately. Displeased at first with the charter granted them, which restricted the operation of the college to the town of Beloit and forbade religious tests, they later in April, 1846, accepted the charter on these terms. The town of Beloit pledged a site of ten acres and raised, for the erection of the first building, $7,000. At the laying of the corner stone of Middle College on June 24, 1847, Mr. Peet announced the gift of $10,000 in western lands by Hon. T. W. Williams, of New London, Connecticut, for the endowment of a professorship. Unwilling to await the completion of a build- ing or the engagement of professors, a class of five, prepared by S. T. Merrill, was admitted November 4, 1847. Their examination for entrance as freshmen, BELOIT COLLEGE IX 1870 EMEBSON HALL, WOMEN'S CAMPUS, BELOIT COLLEGE, BELOIT Vol. 1—26 404 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY made by Mr. Merrill and the trustees was upon a course of study drawn up exactly on the existing Yale plan. The late Horace White at the semi-centennial of the college, celebrated June 23, 1897, gave his vivid remembrances in the following words: "Under Mr. Merrill's tuition I began the study of algebra and of Latin and Greek. In 1845 my mother married Mr. Samuel Hinman of Waukesha, Wisconsin. His election as superintendent of the first building erected for Beloit College brought us back here in the spring of 1845. This was the year in which the first freshman class was formed, the year in which the corner stone of Middle College was laid. "I remember the time when the young men constituting the first fresh- man class studied alongside of us younger ones in the old basement, under Mr. Merrill, who was acting president and professor of all departments in Beloit College until the advent of Professors Bushnell and Emerson in the month of May, 1848. I remember the coming of those two seers of Israel and the laying of the aforesaid corner stone. The college building was in course of construction for a long time, and the five freshmen (grown to be sophomores) recited their lessons in a room of Lucius G. Fisher's house down on the river bank. It was a severe struggle on all hands to get that building under a roof. We children — that is, the Hinman children and the White children — had these troubles served to us daily because Deacon Hinman had charge of the work for which he received a salary of $500 per year; and this was all that a family of ten had to live on. We thought we lived pretty well, however. "We produced our own vegetables and poultry, our own pork and milk and butter. The cows grazed freely on the open prairie roundabout, and were lured homeward by an enticement of bran at the close of each day. We had a wood lot which supplied our fuel and I cut down the trees. Tea and coffee were unknown luxuries to us, sugar was scarce, but we had more of it than Julius Ceasar had. There was abundance of fish in the streams, and of game in the woods and fields. Prairie chickens, wild ducks, wild pigeons, and wild geese were to be had in the greatest profusion during their season, together with an occasional deer and an occasional bear. During my senior year in college (1853) it was not an uncommon occurrence to find a flock of quails in our dooryard picking up crumbs in competition with the chickens. Black- berries, strawberries, wild plums, wild grapes, hickory nuts, hazel nuts and black walnuts were to be had for the trouble of gathering them, and as for wild flowers I cannot begin to tell you how the prairies, the woods and the river banks glowed with them. The habitat of many of these flowers extended to the base of the Rocky Mountains on the west and to the headwaters of the Saskatchewan on the north, as I discovered a few years since while making a journey to the Pacific coast by the Canadian Pacific Railway. "So you see that a salary of $500 for a family of ten, plus the bounties of nature and our own industry, was not a niggardly allowance. Yet I fancy that the salaries offered to Professors Bushnell and Emerson, of $600 per year, coupled with the proviso, 'if we can raise it' did not constitute the moving consideration with them. Ah, those nobleminded, high-principled men! What can I say in their praise? What can I not say of them and of those who came THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 405 a little later President Cliapin, Professor Lathrop, Professor Porter? These five constituted the faculty during my undergraduate course. Two of them are still alive, thank God, to see the fiftieth anniversary of the institution to which they gave their lives. Prof. Porter, according to my recollection, came hither a victim of consumption, and was not expected to live more than three years. If Beloit were as good for all invalids as it has been for him, it would be the most popular health resort in the United States." The original ten acres of land which constituted the initial campus of Beloit College was given by the following men who were the owners of the lots composing it : L. G. Fisher, A. L. Field, James Lusk, H. Hobart, Hazen Cheney, R. P. Crane, P. Kearney, S. G. Fisher, R. P. Field, and Field & Lusk. Additions were acquired by gift and purchases at various times later, so that now the campus proper is thirty acres. The day of the laying of the corner stone of Middle College, when two thousand persons assembled and marched to the southeast corner to witness it. was an auspicious one. With John M. Keep presiding, Rev. A. L. Chapin, then but a trustee, read a sketch of the origin of the College; Rev. Stephen Peet spoke of the slender resources, while others uttered their unfaltering faith in the undertaking. Depositing the lead box, filled with articles of cur- rent interest, in its place and sealing it, Mr. Kent, the president of the board, set the corner stone, June 24, 1847. With the coming of Professors Bushnell and Emerson the next year, the instruction was divided between them, Professor Bushnell taking the mathe- matics and Professor Emerson, the ancient languages. Almost immediately Mr. Bushnell had to become business and financial manager, spending for years much time in the canvass for funds. When the walls of Middle College had risen as high as the $4,000 sub- scribed would pay for, the building was stopped — floorless, windowless and roofless. As no more help could be secured abroad until Middle College was finished by the people of Beloit, a public meeting was anxiously called. As the village then contained only about 1,700 people, with few living on the College bluff, only the most faithful expected success from the meeting. A second $4,000 was subscribed and the greatest crisis of the College was passed. To the initial gift of the site, the citizens of Beloit subscribed $12,000 in money or labor and made the completion of the first building possible. By the end of the first ten years, gifts amounting to $125,000 had been secured, $25,000 of which had been given by the citizens of Beloit. In the early days, in humble quarters the students and faculty began their work with prayers at six o'clock in the morning. Almost immediately the Btudents expressed their initiative in the voluntary organization of the Mis- sionary and Archaean Debating societies. The early students camo predom- inantly with the intention of preparing themselves for the Christian Ministry, so appealingly did the conditions of the newly settled country demand the message of the Gospel. Rev. A. L. Chapin came from his pastorate in Milwaukee to be the first president and was inaugurated July 24, 1850. His "life was identified with the College from its first inception as a founder, trustee and president. From the time of the first consultation of the friends on the steamer 'Chesapeake,' 406 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY he was inspired with the need and the practicability of establishing in this new West a Christian college which would in time become a worthy peer of the best Eastern colleges. He gave his after-life, at the call of duty, to the planting and upbuilding of such an institution. His thirty years of admin- istration as president of the College and forty-seven years service as a trustee, and member of the executive committee, attest his ability and success in the responsible work committed to his hands. He outlived all those associated with him on the first Board of Trustees, and was privileged to witness and rejoice in the already blessed fruitage of their united labors." President Chapin's name and deeds will ever be held in honored and loving remem- brance while the College exists. With the outbreak of the Civil war, the College gave itself over to the saving of the Union. Drilling squads filled the Campus at the recreation hour. The College furnished more than 400 to the Union army and forty-six martyrs whose names can still be read on the marble tablet in Memorial Hall. One commencement had to be omitted because its professor of rhetoric, J. J. Blais- dell, and the senior class were in camp at Memphis, Tennessee. With the resumption of peace, the students returned in increasing num- bers to their studies and the preparation, for many, for the continuance of their soldier spirit by "the following of the flag over the breastworks of the enemy of souls in Turkey, China, India and Japan." Memorial Hall was erected by the gifts of donors who responded to the appeal for $100 for each man who had enlisted from the College. At its dedication in 1869, "the soldiery in uniform, 'Old Abe,' Wisconsin's War Eagle, the glowing oratory of Senator Carpenter, the classic eloquence of Pro- fessor Emerson, the booming of the minute guns fired by the student veterans in honor of the dead — all bespoke what the College had learned and suffered, given and gained through the war." The period from 1873 to 1886, the close of President Chapin's administra- tion, was one of intensive growth. The college began to strengthen its faculty by the addition of some of its own alumni. The course of instruction was enlarged by the addition of the natural sciences and modern languages to the classics, and the scientific equipment increased in many ways, among others by the gift of the Smith Observatory dedicated in 1883. Undergraduate ac- tivities became more diversified. In 1875 the "College Monthly" established in 1853 expanded into the semi-monthly "Round Table," now issued twice a week. Beloit in 1875 began its interstate oratorical victories, developing by 1925 its enviable record of having won more first and second places than any other college. In 1885 the first Greek play was given. Field days were begun as early as 1880, baseball leagues, lawn tennis, mandolin and Glee clubs organized in the early '80s. A tie game of base- ball with the University of Wisconsin, May 2, 1884, gave origin to the college yell whose seven syllables form the basis of the chorus of today. Through the generosity of Beloit citizens, Middle College was remodelled in 1880 with its adornment of mansard roof and colonnaded front. By 1886 the endowment had increased to $200,000. With this year Rev. Edwin Dwight Eaton, a worthy son of old Beloit, became its second president. Under his leadership an era of rapid expansion > I— I o > w M f O o o f f w o M W M f O 408 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY began. Several new buildings, elective courses, laboratory methods in all science departments and art and music — all helped in the furtherance of a more lib- eral Christian education. In 1889 D. K. Pearsons began his gifts which ultimately totaled $500,000 to the College besides drawing forth generous contributions from others. North College, built in 1854, long a dormitory and college boarding club was given over to recitation rooms. Scoville Hall, erected in 1889 from the gift of $25,000 of J. W. Scoville, became long the home of the Beloit Academy from whose halls entered the college many students excellently prepared under the super- vision of that masterful teacher and character builder, Professor A. W. Burr, now honored far and wide by men who have become famous in various walks of life. Chapin Hall was built and named by D. K. Pearsons in 1891; while the beautiful Chapel was opened for use the next year. This permitted a new use to be given to the old chapel which thereafter became known as the Art Hall. To the late Mrs. Joseph Emerson came the conception of the Art Hall in 1892. Its beginning came with the procuring, in 1893, of the 112 casts sent by the Greek government as its exhibition to the World's Fair in Chicago. A strange triumphal procession rolled into Beloit one summer day in 1894, as the flag-decked train chugged up the grade from Roscoe. On the dirt road beside it jogged its frail escort, a little buggy carrying Professor and Mrs. Joseph Emerson to their hour of triumph. They were bringing home the fruits of months of labor, the Fisher collection purchased by Lucius G. Fisher, Jr., from the Greek government and given to the College in honor of his father. Then Professor Emerson supplied a sense of permanence to his wife's con- ception of an Art Hall, by securing from the family of his classmate, Azariah Eldridge of Norfolk, Connecticut, an endowment of $10,000. With this in- come, Mrs. Emerson through an indomitable resourcefulness of mind and will to the very year of her death in 1920, assembled marbles, bronzes, art books and treasures, and over one hundred oil paintings towards the realization of her plan to make the Art building a Memorial Hall of the founders of the College, the prominent graduates and leading trustees and benefactors of Beloit. However beautifully remodelled and enriched since her day, Mrs. Helen Brace Emerson must always be recognized as its master spirit. "Her brain planned it, her soul inspired it and her will achieved it." All connected with the college now recall with loving forgiveness the innumerable times when this autocrat insisted and secured the readjustments of Commencement programs to accommodate her in her arranged hour for the unveiling of her new art treasures. With what wonderful definiteness she husbanded her meager funds, supplementing them by her own savings secured from frugal living and un- ceasing and not-to-be denied supplications to her friends! Never deflecting a hair's breadth from her purpose, she achieved, however, much, as the years went by her step became slower and her form more bent, her lonely vigils more frequent. In 1913 her bodily presence, but more undaunted spirit, was constantly presiding over the College campaign in which the citizens of Beloit subscribed $50,000 for her new Art Hall. The war, however, caused such an upsetting of values that the trustees decided to delay the building. In con- sequence death came to its founder ere the edifice could arise. With the ac- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 409 cumulated interesl and additions, the day is near at hand when the new Art Hall will grace the Campus. No other name than that of Helen Brace Emer- son can appropriately he carved over its entrance. Meanwhile the present Hall has developed into a charming gallery of numerous delightful cultural opportunities. Loan collections, lectures, afternoon teas, gallery talks and re- ceptions have made the Beloit College Art Hall an educational opportunity for town and gown. With the gift of $63,000 by D. K. Pearsons in 1892, the Science building became possible when supplemented by an endowment gift of $50,000 from William E. Hale. With the completion of Pearsons Hall of Science, improved scientific; methods became possible so that Beloit carried, its high standards of scholarship into the fields in which it has maintained its preeminence. Nothing stands out more unique than the Logan Museum now well housed in Memorial Hall. Its founder, Frank Gr. Logan, of Chicago, originally planned a collection of archaeological material of the American Indian with his initial gift to the College of the Major II. N. Rust exhibition at the World's Fair. His numerous later gifts have continually enlarged the scope and usefulness of the museum. Several large collections illustrating the archaeology of Wis- consin have been secured, valuable treasures in copper, 1,400 pieces, stone axes, 1,500 specimens, celts, 1,000 specimens, pipes, ceremonial stones, pendants, gorgets, etc., numbering 700 specimens. A choice collection of Peruvian pottery, axes and pottery from Ecuador, Colombia, and the provinces of Chiriqui in Central America. Notable collections in bead and shell necklaces have been added while the Museum displays in well arranged cases the life of the Great Plaines Indians with excellent collections of baskets from the Pacific coast and. notably from the Pomos. With a splendid collection of implements in wood, chiefly bows, arrows, spears, mortars, bowls, drills, etc., together with a small but useful collection of shell articles, an invaluable teaching collection in anthropology is obtained. The museum acquired, in 1925, the oldest necklace in the world. It is composed of one hundred thirty-eight beads made of bone, stone and ivory. Estimated to be, at least, seventy-five thousand years old, it was found in an Anrignaciau deposit in the cave La Blanchard near Perigueux, France. Pur- chased by Mr. Logan in the face of keen competition of English collectors it is now the permanent possession of the Beloit college museum. Prom funds generously supplied, by Mr. Logan, new collections are con- tinually received. Having endowed the department of anthropology, with Dr. • ieorge L. Collie as its head, Mr. Logan has also secured a field in Southern France for a five year period of excavation, the materials found to become the property of the museum. He has also commissioned a party to explore Northern Africa for valuable material on anthropology. Due to financial aid given by Mr. Logan to Roy Chapman Andrews, in his expedition into Central Asia, the museum will receive duplicates of all specimens secured. Mr. Logan has also had the walls of the Museum decorated with twelve large Murals showing the progress of human life from the first half-human anthropoid apes to the higher primitive culture shown in Mexico and the lucas of Peru. The College was for fifty years a boy's college when, in 1895, women were 410 THE KOCK RIVER VALLEY admitted and first graduated in 1898. While remaining thereafter coeduca- tional, the college has always been particularly considerate in its care of the women by restricting them to residence in the dormitories under college super- vision. President Eaton served the College from 1886 to 1917. During his efficient administration, the College developed steadily along material lines; the en- rollment increased five hundred per cent; the endowment one thousand per cent; and the addition of ten new buildings gave great improvement in the physical equipment of the institution. In hearty sympathy with the Christian spirit of its founders and firm in his determination to continue their aims of developing a college devoted exclusively to the liberal arts, leaving to the universities the task of furnishing training in the vocations and professions, President Eaton built securely upon the firm foundations laid. In conse- quence, in "Old Beloit" there is found an atmosphere of sturdy faith which steadies and guides effectively youth in its preparation for life. In June, 1923, President Eaton returned to serve as ad interim president during the time intervening between the departure of his own successor and the oncoming of the present president. He, in a remarkable manner, became again a harmonizing and constructive force on the Campus, enlisting the co- operation of all. He gave the present generation of students an acquaintance with the early history of the College and enlisted them in their determination to respond enthusiastically to the leadership of his successor.. With the coming of Dr. Melvin A. Brannon in 1917 to be the third pres- ident of the college, an incident occurred which was doubtless unique in history. At the first Convocation, September 26, 1917, marking the commencement of President Brannon 's administration, Professor William Porter, though long in retirement after fift} r years' service as Professor of Latin, was present. Pro- fessor Porter, then in his 97th year and the oldest living graduate of Williams College, occupying his honored seat with the faculty, rose with the rest to salute the new executive and thus placed the benediction of the past upon the Beloit of the future. Dr. Brannon proved himself invaluable in leading the College through the trying days of the World war and the period of reorganization that followed. His dynamic democratic spirit and great business ability sustained and led the College still forward, imbued with the new spirit of the age. With marvel- ous resourcefulness, he overcame numerous difficulties concomitant with the times and pressed ever onward towards the realization of his ideals for the College. Called to a wider field, that of the Chancellorship of Montana in charge of all of its higher educational institutions, Beloit, after the short interim presidency of Dr. Eaton, called again one of its own alumni, Irving Maurer, of the class of 1904, to be its fourth president. Dr. Maurer assumed direction of the College in January, 1924. Bringing- to the College the full vigor of manhood ripened in an environment of culture and Christian idealism, President Maurer has a splendid opportunity to realize his ideal of a Greater Beloit. He has already expressed that ideal in the following words: "Beloit has always cultivated a spirit of truth-seeking; yet, in this adventure, Beloil OLDEST NECKLACE IN THE WORLD 412 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY has had a great hopefulness, a keen appreciation of spiritual values. True knowledge and pure faith are both manifestations of genuine culture. ' ' But the Beloit of the future, loyal to this fundamental fact, will be greater in the expansion of its equipment, of resources, of student body, of teaching staff. It will be a College in which student life will have vigorous, intel- lectual contacts. In an enlarged dormitory system, capable of housing the entire freshman class, with a freshman commons, Beloit will invite a body of men and women whose fellowship will center in frank interpretations of modern life problems. It will be a College of vigorous athletic spirit, where the development of the body will be honored not in the person of athletic teams alone, but by the entire student body, as a personal achievement. * * * It will be a college where teachers will have an opportunity in every way to throw their best powers in the classroom work, with enough leisure to do the research work requisite for the better teaching and with every stimulation possible to make teaching the finest game in the world. It will be a College where an honest approach to truth by teacher and student will be everywhere respected. "And it will be a school in which religion is cherished as the heart of life and devotion to a task will be the outstanding mark of Beloit men." In June, 1925, he said: "Beloit closes its 78th year, clear as to its meaning and pur- pose. To be a college where intellectual interests have the intensity of a spiritual fervor, to be a school where young men and women catch the contagion of a great faith in the possibilities of our race, to be a college where life is nurtured in its best and noblest things, this is her work and in this may God help us carry on." Time has naturally wrought many changes in the personnel of the faculty. Professors Emerson, Bacon, Whitney, Chapin and his son Robert C, long professor of economics; Porter, Pearsons, T. A. Smith and Salisbury have passed away. Professor Burr and E. G. Smith are in retirement on the Carnegie foundation. The latter, after his forty years of service as professor of chem- istry, is now renewing his youth by serving another term as mayor of the city, having held the office twice in earlier days. The College has now a productive endowment of over $2,000,000, a student body of 550, and a faculty of fifty. Its alumni list includes a total of over 4,000 men and women, of whom 3,584 are living. Into the various fields of life this college continues to send leaders well trained for service in the world. A STEADY GROWTH Steady, but never rapid was Beloit 's growth. In 1872 it had reached a population of 4,600 with a city government with yearly running expenses of $3,000. While having two volunteer fire departments with two hand engines, it was without water works, paved streets, electric lights, or telephone service. In that year Joseph Hendley and sons established a gas plant which gave service on a few streets and in part of the homes. The kerosene oil lamps, however, continued to be more universally used for sometime later. Two restaurants and ice-cream parlors served the city; one was operated by Ed. Day and the other by Hank Talmadge. The latter is still, in 1925, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 413 a well known local character seen daily on the streets with his ever present button-hole bouquet. The seven physicians, then serving the city unassisted by any hospital, were Strong, Taggart, Bell, Johnson, Brenton, Hunt and Merriman. There were three drug stores: Fenton's, Strong's and Gregory's and three hotels: the Goodwin, the American House and Frank Salisbury's. The legal profession was represented by six of its members: Hon. S. J. Todd, Alfred Taggart, Horace Dearborn, Judge .Mills and Richard Tattershall. At that time one readied Janesville, the county seat, by rail, changing at Clinton Junction. The pastor of the Firsl Congregational Church was then Dr. George Bush- uell, while Rev. II. P. Higley was at the Second Congregational, Rev. John McLean at the First Presbyterian, and Dr. Fayette Royce at St. Paul's, Rev. Levi Parmerly a1 the Baptist, Father Sullivan at St. Thomas, and a supply at the Methodist. Several disasters befell Beloit in the early '80s. The first was the tornado of June 11, 1883. As described by a prominent resident at the time, it struck the city at 5 :30 P. M. Coming from the southwest, it rushed up the river valley, tore off the cover of the Noii^h Western Railroad bridge and then divided into two branches. One branch continuing up the river demolished the East side Paper .Mill, splitting a stone wall, throwing down one side of the build- ing hut leaving the other side standing. There Edward Hollaran, a mill hand, was killed. The other branch of the tornado turned to the northeast and sent its main force against Benjamin Brown's three blocks at the southwest corner of State and East (hand Avenue. It tore off two-thirds of the metal roofs, crumpling them up like paper and dashing them into the street. The high brick cornice was pushed oft' as was part of the brick front. Then the tornado leaped in its journey northeastward, passing the bodies of the buildings but shearing off the church steeples of the First Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist and First Congregational. A heavy rainfall following for half an hour added to the damage. In the spring of 1884, the dam was torn out at the west end which resulted in making a hole of forty to fifty feet in depth. The loss of water power and delay in repairing caused great expense to the paper mill. Within the following year, the .Merrill & Houston Iron Works, the Rock River Paper Company, and Booth, Hinman & Company, failed. President A. L. Chapin of the College and S. T. Merrill lost heavily in the second of these failures. More than $200,000 of the savings of Beloit people were lost, it is claimed, in the failure of Booth, Hinman & Company. INDUSTRIAL BELOIT OF VKKTKKDA V AM) TODAY The middle of the '80s came and passed with Beloil discouraged as, strug- gling under a great burden of railroad bonds, it saw no prospect of recupera- tion. Capital and enterprise, both seemed lacking. Then a few men grasped the situation and formed a Business .Men's Association which paved the way for a revival that has been permanent. Within the first twelve months of its existence the energetic secretary of the organization had enlarged the num- ber of workers so that the original eleven had grown to nearly one hundred. 414 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Thousands of his circulars, disclosing the advantages of Beloit, were distributed far and wide. So effectively did this organization set the industrial wheels of Beloit in prosperous motion that its prominent members deserve to be men- tioned. They were E. J. Adams, the first president; J. B. Dow, its secretary; Professor E. G. Smith, B. M. Malone, David S. Foster, Fred Messer, C. C. Keeler, L. H. Parker, John Foster, William H. Wheeler, C. D. Winslow, W. M. Brittan, E. T. Hansen, C. B. Salmon; President E. D. Eaton, of Beloit College; A. N. Bort, C. F. Rau, Dr. Samuel Bell, E. S. Green, Cham Ingersoll, T. F. Livermore, C. W. Merriman, C. F. Hardy, C. A. Smith. This organization of determined business men brought new industries to the city, serving efficiency the city before the advent of the modern Chamber of Commerce. Their greatest accomplishment was the inducement of P. B. Yates to remove his Berlin Machine Company, then operating in a small way at Berlin, Wisconsin, to Beloit. This factory started in Beloit with the em- ployment of only forty men. From that small start, with only one model of machine as the complete output of his factory, P. B. Yates and his engineers devised and perfected scores of different types of machinery now used in practically every lumber and woodworking mill in the country. The far-seeing vision of Mr. Yates early disclosed to him the coming need for conservation of the forests. He set out to secure engineers and designers who, under his direction, would construct machinery which would handle the lumber with the least possible waste. He determined that his company should be the leader in the movement of conservation in the manufacture of lumber. Firm in his beliefs, his dominating mind ruled every phase of the plant in its struggle for the most efficient manufacturing methods. In the early years, J. R. Thomas was brought from Boston to become the designer of Yates' cabinet surfacers, moulders, glue jointers, planers and matchers and the original Double Surfacer. F. L. Lane and Harry Mitchell perfected the Royal Invincible Sanders which were placed on the market at the close of the year 1896. Later, Harry Ross, as designer, added possibly the largest number of new machines to the Yates line in his fourteen years of efficient service. The Yates line of band resaws, which began coming out about 1904, were designed by B. D. Stevens who was brought to the plant from Saginaw, Michigan. The Lumber Trade Journal of April 1, 1923, asserted that P. B. Yates of Beloit, Wisconsin, more than all other men, had shaped the destiny of lumber dressing as a principle of forest conservation. He, then, was ascribed the greatest woodsman of the age. "Rare, gorgeously-grained hardwoods and the commonest low-grade soft woods alike have come under the influence of this man. Jewelled burls of satin-wood and black walnut which are handled almost like precious stones, figuratively speaking, have felt the touch of his hand alike with ragged yellow pine, seconds and thirds cut in million-foot quantities for building rough scaffoldings and sheds. All the various woods of the United States and foreign countries have been sawed and surfaced in unbelievably tremendous quantities for nearly four decades on wood working machines conceived and built in the great factories which bear his name — P. B. Yates Machine Company, Beloit, Wisconsin." Today more than 1,200 men are employed at the Beloit plant and 500 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 415 more at the Hamilton, Ontario, branch. The company has a sales force of over 300 men, :'."» branch offices in the United States and more than 50 branches in foreign countries. Today over 125 types of machines are made at the Beloit factory, the largest of its kind in the world. While running until 1917 under tlie name of Berlin Wood Working Machine Company, P. B. Yates was a'most entirely the owner and clearly the dominating constructive mind of the or- ganization. With a marvelous grasp of all the details of the business, an unerring ability in the estimating of manufacturing costs, a financial acumen amounting almost to "second sense," a marvelous accuracy in his judgment of men, and a constant interest in his employees, Mr. Yates built up a great organization of men who became permanent assets of the city. Incalculable became the services of Mr. Yates to Beloit as its great city builder. Mr. L. M. Forbes, his brother-in-law, and F. L. Lane, were prominently associated with Mr. Yates. Upon the death of Mr. Yates April 27, 1923, the entire business became the property of his only daughter, Florence Argall Yates, a minor. A reorganization of the company followed with H. A. von Oven, president and trustee of the estate. In 1925 the industry was sold to a group of men who had long held leading positions in the company. The plant is now operated under the name of the Yates- American Machine Company. The Eclipse Windmill Company is noteworthy for the manner of its origin, its own development and the great industry of today of which it was the fore- runner. The Rev. L. H. Wheeler, while a missionary to the Indians in northern Wisconsin, experienced as early as 1844 the need for some power to pump water and grind corn and wheat for the Indians. Being of an inventive turn of mind he contrived in 1865, a crude self-regulating pumping windmill for raising water in place of hand carriage. A patent was secured in 1867, and the first full-sized Eclipse Windmill was exhibited that fall at the State Fair at Madison and sold to a farmer of Albany, Wisconsin. Mr. Wheeler later patented what is known as the "offset link" used in windmill pumps. The firm of L. H. Wheeler & Son began the manufacture of the windmill. To the son, W. H. Wheeler, however, fell the task of developing the business, as the father lived only a few years after the invention was patented. Amidst early failures, incomplete successes, and almost constant struggles with poverty, the business slowly increased. In 1873, the firm was reorganized under the name of the Eclipse Windmill Company, with S. T. Merrill president and Charles B. Salmon, as secretary and manager. Mr. Wheeler continued to be the partner to whom is assigned the credit for the improvements of the mill and enlargement of the scope of the industry by the inclusion of the manu- facture of machinery and equipment directly connected with the windmill. The Eclipse windmill captured the first prize medals at the Expositions at Philadelphia, in 1876, and at Paris, in 1878. With the retirement of Messrs. Merrill and Salmon from the business in 1880, a reorganization resulted in the establishment of the Eclipse Windmill Engine Company, with W. II. Wheeler as president. Then Wheeler added other developments of his own, such as the friction clutch and the Williams engine. The company, thereupon, assumed the name of the Williams Engine and Clutch Works. Towards the rebuilding of the plant at two different times 416 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY during the period between 1880 and 1890, the citizens of Beloit contributed $10,000. In 1893, Charles H. Morse of Chicago became prominently identified finan- cially in the work. He consolidated in 1894 the several departments under one organization, known thereafter as Fairbanks, Morse & Company. Pore- seeing the future development in the manufacture and use of gasoline for power this company began the building of a plant which has grown to be one of the largest of its kind in the world. Today the Beloit one is the larg- est of the seven factories of the Fairbanks, Morse & Company. A condensed description of the display of the company's products shown at Beloit in December, 1925, will disclose somewhat the extensiveness and variety of the line of its products. Three of the company's railroad motor cars were exhibited. These are used by signalmen, section foremen, bridge gangs and officials on road inspection trips. Furnished with six to ten horse- power gasoline engines they have a carrying capacity of ten men and a running speed of 35 miles an hour. The pumps, while now manufactured at Three Rivers, Michigan, were developed in Beloit and manufactured here until recently. They are, in consequence, inseparably associated with any history of the Beloit plant. These pumps, today, vary in size from the high-speed direct-connected centrifugal pump of one and a half inch capacity to the huge fifty-four inch screw pump which can be connected to a 180-horsepower Fair- banks, Morse & Company's oil engine. This large pump has a pumping ca- pacity of 156,000 gallons per minute and is, therefore, able to empty two of the big oil tank cars in less than a minute's time. Numerous are the variety of pumps now produced and innumerable are their uses. Great pumps, used in sewerage disposal plants, pick up stones as large as a man's head, tin cans and trash of all sort. Others are used in handling, without injury, the sugar beets. Then there are those made for use in water plants, city, household, farm or golf course. No one, through this service of the company, need be without running water. Today the Beloit plant has revolutionized the manufacture of magnetos. Desiring a better magneto for its farm engines the company engaged Henry G-. Cox, a magneto expert, to reorganize its magneto division. In consequence of his able efforts, supported by capable assistance, the company, today, places on the market a high tension rotating magneto using also the company's own impulse coupling. Hereafter every Fairbanks, Morse engine using electric ignition will be equipped with the magneto made at the Beloit plant. Not only has the inventive genius of Mr. Cox won recognition but also his organizing ability in rearranging his department for the efficient manufacture of the improved magnetos. By a clever scientific grouping of the machinery and the use of an overhead conveyor, by means of which the parts are carried automatically to the operator the waste motion has been reduced to a minimum, resulting in a great saving in time and space. Specially designed machinery has also been perfected. The plant is most noted for its manufacture of engines. In consequence, a brief description of the engines exhibited will be enlightening. On the floor of the plant oil engines totalling more than 3,000 horsepower were seen in operation. There were 35 engines of 60-horsepower and over, ranging from THE HOCK RIVER VALLEY 417 the LO-horsepower Diesel marine engine to the great 720-horsepower unit — the "last, b six cylinder single acting, port scavenging, airless injection Diesel." Engines were seen which are used in cotton gins, in municipal light plants, greal Irrigation projects, and in numerous marine services. From the manu- factnre of the semi-Diesel type, the Beloit plant has advanced now to the pro- duction of what is now known as the full Diesel. One of the very interesting line of products is that of the Z engines, ranging from two to twenty horse- power with their modifications to take care of every known need of the farmer and contractor. The Z engine furnishes the power for the standard light plants and home water systems. A Z engine is mounted on a 30 inch lawn mower, while another one is used as a hoisting apparatus. Among the new products of the company are washing machines, feed grinders and new direct- connected light plants. By a wonderful system of automatic conveyors, now miles in extent, over the factory, everything is timed so that the parts reach the operator at just the right moment and pass similarly on to the next workman. The engine, moving along the same conveyor, is tested, washed, painted, retested and crated for shipment. Fifteen working hours from the time the first rough casting is received at the beginning of the line, the completed engine is on the car and awaiting shipment. The conveyor system for the heavy engines is similar. Xo more complete system is found in any industrial plant in the country. The company has also one of the largest and most efficiently equipped foundries in the country. In securing this recent improvement to their fac- tory the company utilized the practical experience of Robert J. Barr who continues as the highly capable superintendent of the foundry. The laboring and time saving devices employed here demonstrate again, not only the com- pany's constant concern in the reduction of cost of production, but also their desire to conserve the strength and safeguard the health of its men. Humanely interested in its employees, the company has always kept in ad- vance of the legal requirements regarding safety appliances and the care of the health of its men. Pearly it secured the services of Dr. C. F. Schram, a well trained factory physician and directed him to inaugurate a complete first-aid hospital service within the plant. From time to time this has been developed scientifically 'until today the plant has its own visiting nurses, hos- pital for the immediate assistance and, best of all, a thoroughly practical system for the prevention of accidents and sickness. Every possible provision is furnished which will encourage greater attention to cleanliness and health on the part of the men and even their families. Thoroughly interested in the well being of its employees the company has provided within the plant recrea- tional facilities. Nationally known baseball and basket-ball teams are main- tained and the beginning of a 9-hole golf course has been made on the grounds belonging to the factory. A hall splendidly arranged, not only for the use of basket-ball but also for conceits and all kinds of gatherings, is on the second floor of the new building, housing on the first floor one of the most thoroughly fitted factory cafeterias and restaurants in the Middle West. While the plant today is a monument to the munificence and business sajracity first of the late Charles H. Morse, Sr., and more recently of his son, diaries Morse, Jr., its realization and present success are unquestionably due, 418 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY in the greatest degree, to the organizing genius of its general manager, W. S. Hovey. Mr. Hovey, an honor man of Cornell University, came first to Beloit, after about fifteen years experience elsewhere, to become the manager of the local plant. With a remarkable steadiness, tact and persistency, Mr. Hovey began the readjustments seen necessary from time to time to fit the plant for its enlarging opportunities. Building always upon the accomplishments of his predecessors, appreciative of their real worth, he disclosed unusual con- structive ability. Soon his charming personality and ability to advance equi- tably both the interests of the company and its employees won whole-hearted cooperation from both the company and the employees in every department of the plant. Through him and the helpful services of many department heads a Fairbanks-Morse loyalty has been established which has now become nationally recognized as unusual. Advanced to the vice-presidency in charge of all production in all of the plants of the company, Mr. Hovey earned so merited a recognition of his services that he has been made general manager of all the departments of the company, both sales and production. He has just perfected a world-wide reorganization of the sales department of the company and the sales methods, and so connected it harmoniously with the plants engaged in the production as to make the present united organization of Fairbanks, Morse & Company the wonder and envy of its competitors. To- wards this accomplishment numerous men have aided. Among these certainly must be mentioned F. G. Hobart, for thirty-six years connected with the com- pany here and for many years its chief engineer; W. C. Heath, now manager of both the Beloit and Three Rivers plants ; George Ingersoll, the capable secretary of the company ; Lloyd Yost, now chief engineering adviser to General Manager Hovey, and Charles B. Janke, recently advanced to be chief engineer. Today the plant covers over 105 acres of ground, with some 1,500,000 square feet of floor space under cover, and employs over 3,000 people in the Beloit plant alone. By the constancy of its growth and steadiness of the employ- ment given to so many families of the city and its persistent practice of ad- vancing its men, the company has become a great factor in the growth of the city. The Beloit Iron "Works was the first factory west of New York to build paper-making machinery. It had its origin in the little factory started in 1858 by O. E. Merrill which, reorganized, became the Merrill & Houston Iron Works. This firm built up a large business, but financial difficulties caused them to make an assignment in 1882 ; and the shops were closed by the Receiver in 1884. Then four men, Beloit workmen, Fred Messer, Alonzo Aldrich, Noble J. Ross and William H. Grinnell, with a combined capital of only $9,100, purchased a part of the old Iron Works property. In July, 1885, they or- ganized the Beloit Iron Works and began operations with seven men. In the forty years which have followed, the company has had phenomenal success; enlarging and improving their plant until now they employ over 400 men and their products are shipped to all parts of the United States and to many for- eign countries. The Beloit Paper Machines are recognized as superior to all others. The designers of the company are constantly improving the machines as new kinds of paper are required. As early as 1904 a solid freight train of twenty-five cars, loaded, left the Beloit factory with a paper mill to be erected Vol. 1—27 420 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY on the Thames near London. Several Beloit mills are now in operation in Japan and China. The plant continues to return the largest dividends of any Beloit plant owned exclusively by Beloit citizens. For years the J. Thompson & Sons Company gave employment to many citizens of Beloit and added to the wealth of the city. John Thompson, the founder, beginning as a lone blacksmith in 1860, advanced to a manufacturer of plows and farm implements in 1870. He enlarged his plant in the '80s, in- corporated in 1886 with a capital of $200,000 and the employment of 150 men. Adding gas and gasoline engines to the output, the business increased up to the retirement of the father, John Thompson, in 1903. Then fire and flood, in 1904, entailed a heavy loss upon the son who continued the business. Rebuilt with improved equipment in South Beloit, it continued somewhat longer. Eventually, changing conditions altered its rank among the industries of the city. The John W. Foster Shoe Company is another of Beloit 's former notable industries. Beginning in 1870 the manufacture of ladies' fine shoes, it was in- corporated in 1901 with an initial capital stock of $150,000. Under the man- agement of John Foster, W. D. Hall and Frank Kunz with W. D. Hall, the designer and inventor of its enlarging number of styles, the Foster Shoe be- came well known all over the United States. With the retirement of the firm the plant was taken over, recently, by the Freeman Shoe Company. In the late '70s, R. J. Dowd began the manufacture of machine knives. Continuous has been the growth of this company, which, upon the death of the founder, continued under the management of the two sons., G. A. and R. I. Dowd. Beloit is justly proud of one of its youngest factories, the Warner Instru- ment Company. Beginning in 1904, its output was the invention of its owners, Arthur and Charles Warner, both Beloit boys. The Warner Speedometer soon became well known as "not the cheapest, but the best" auto meter on the market. The factory became the largest manufacturer of speed indicators in the world. Continually improving its plant, enlarging its production, and extending its sales, it so pushed its competitors that the company was at last purchased by the Stewart Company for $2,000,000. With the invention by another Beloiter (F. N. Gardner) of his disc grinder, the Charles H. Besly Company began its development under the management of Mr. Gardner. Steadily increasing its products, the plant was enlarged, giving employment to many men and returning fine profits to its principal owner, Charles H. Besly of Chicago. The factory continues successfully in its employment of 150 men, though losing the services of Mr. Gardner some years before his death. Having perfected several other devices and seeing a splendid opportunity for their manufacture along with an enlarged list of his disc grinders, Mr. Gardner organized the Gardner Machine Company in 1906. Under a reorgan- ization of the company, with Waldo Thompson as manager, the new plant was built in South Beloit and a large demand created at home and abroad for the products before the death of Mr. Gardner. Since then the company has had a remarkable success under the presidency of Mr. Thompson in as- sociation with the sons of Mr. Gardner and W. C. Ackley. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 421 Prominent among the other factories of the city, are the Racine Feet Knit- ting Company, giving employment to 200; the Freeman Shoe Company, fur- nishing labor for 450 and still growing; the Wright & Wagner Dairy Company; the Consumer's Company; the Beloit Box Board factory, glove factories, numer- ous foundries, the Lipnian Refrigerator Company; the Badger Tool Company; the Handle? & Whittemore Iron Working Machinery and the Warner Mal- leable Casting Company, employing 175 men. Beloit today is the leading manufacturing center of the county with over forty large concerns, employing a steadily increasing number of men, and turning out a diversified line of products. Due to the fact that so many of the plants are manufacturing, in some form or other, iron and steel products, the average wage t scale is unusually high; equaled only by three other cities in the state. This has meant much in the growth of Beloit as a city of com- fortable homes owned by its workers. This increase in its manufacturing facilities and commercial opportunities has caused a steady growth in the population and wealth of the city. As a consequence, 1925 finds Beloit with a population of over 25,000, exclusive of South Beloit, a city of steadily improving business and residential districts. Its fifty miles of paved streets and its location on State and inter-state high- ways enables it to fulfil, with increasing success, its function as the Gateway City of the Valley. I3ELOIT BANKS Noteworthy are certain features in the history of banking in the city. In the Hyde & Brittan Bank Beloit has the oldest banking institution in southern Wisconsin, with a continuous existence since 1854. Having an even earlier origin in the private banking business conducted by its founder, Louis C. Hyde, in a little office on the west side of State Street, it became located in 1854 on the east side of the same street where the Branigan Hotel block now stands. Later associating his son-in-law, Walter M. Brittan, in the business, it became in 1874 the First National Bank of Beloit. In 1884, it discontinued its national charter and continued as a private institution. With the death of Louis C. Hyde in 1899, it was reorganized with Walter M. Brittan as president; E. S. Green, cashier; and R. K. Rockwell, assistant cashier. Since 1904 it has been located on the north side of East Grand Avenue, now beautifully remodeled, interiorly and exteriorly, and equipped with fine safety vaults. The last reor- ganization, occasioned by the death of Mr. Brittan, has placed the bank under the control of Mr. Brittan 's son-in-law, R. K. Rockwell, his wife and his son, Harold, who continue the business under the old name. The Beloit Savings Bank took its origin in 1881 under the direction of S. T. Merrill who became the first president. It has grown to be one of the most sub- stantial savings banks in the valley. Besides having an enviable record of ef- fectively increasing the thrift of the community, this bank has the unique honor of being the originator of the School Savings plan in the United States. To its founder, Hon. S. T. Merrill, belongs the credit of originating the idea. Under his direction, forty years ago, the bank started a school savings plan in conjunction with the public schools of Beloit. The records of the Department of Education 422 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY officially recognize this bank and city as being- the first to start such a move- ment in the United States. "While the plan was dropped, after a few years, due to its cumbersomeness in operation, it was, at the urgent request of the superin- tendent of schools, F. E. Converse, resumed, under improved arrangements, in 1922. Each report since discloses increased success of the plan. The schools, the parents, the children and the bank itself are firm upholders of the success of the undertaking. Constant enlargement in school-saving deposits, which are transferred to regular savings accounts and continued by an increasing num- ber of the boys and girls after their school days are passed, confirms this belief. The bank continues under the efficient management of E. G. Smith, as presi- dent ; E. F. Hansen, secretary and treasurer; and George Frederick, manager of the loan department. The Second National Bank took its rise in 1882, was organized in 1899 with William B. Strong, its president; his son, F. M. Strong, vice president; and B. P. Eldred, cashier. Today, after a steady growth, the bank continues to serve an enlarging number of depositors under the presidency of B. P. Eldred. Today the Beloit State Bank is housed in its own beautiful building with interior arrangements for banking facilities which equal, if not surpass, those of any other bank in the valley. This bank had its origin in 1892, with John Paley as its president. At his death in 1904, H. A. von Oven became associated with Mr. Paley 's widow and daughter in the continuance of the bank. Since then, the bank, under the presidency of Mr. von Oven, has had a remarkable growth. It is today one of the strongest banks of the valley. BELOIT 'S PART IN WAR To the late Rev. W. F. Brown, himself a veteran, we owe the following con- cise account of Beloit 's participation in the Civil war: "The first company to volunteer and enlist in Rock County was the Beloit Guards, in April, 1861. The first man to put down his name (at a meeting in Hanchett's Hall) was Dick Adams. After those early three-months' men had served their terms, most of them re-enlisted for three years. In July, 1861, a company was recruited mainly in Beloit, as Company K, Seventh Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, which later became a part of the celebrated 'Iron Brigade.' "The captain was Alexander Gordon and the first lieutenant, Frank W. Oakley. On August 23, 1862, while standing up to encourage his men, crossing a river in the face of the enemy, brave, young Captain Gordon, but recently married, was killed almost instantly by a sharpshooter. Lieutenant Oakley was wounded at Rappahannock Station, Virginia, August 23, 1862, losing his right arm. Until recently, when death called him, he went with genial face about his duties in Madison as clerk of the United States Court for Wisconsin ; but his empty sleeve recalled the dread realities of war. "James E. Ross, enlisting in 1862, at the age of twenty-five, was captured and confined in the notorious Libby prison in March, 1863. Exchanged and transferred to Fighting Joe Hooker's army corps, the Twentieth, he was Avounded. Recovering from this he was made first lieutenant of the 123d U. S. Colored Infantry, and served through the war until September 30, 1865. Joseph Horace Leonard, a Beloit boy, enlisted in Company L., First Iowa Cavalry, June 13, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 423 1861, and served continuously, without ever being wounded or ill, until April 1, 1866. This four years and nine months' service, with five battles and many skirmishes, is believed to be the longest term served by any man from Beloit or Rock County."' In the front vestibule of Logan Museum and Memorial Hall of Beloit, else- where described, are two marble tablets hearing the names of eighty-eight Beloit City and College men who died during that terrible struggle. The late Spanish-American war added nine more names to the casualties of soldier hoys who eidisted in Beloit. With the necessary entrance of the United States into the World war in 1!)17. Beloit gave a remarkable response to every call. Under the efficient draft hoard composed of George B. Ingersoll, C. A. Still, H. A. Moehlenpah, James J. Brittan, William O'Neil and Owen Rutland, 1,500 men were inducted into the army. The city exceeded its assigned quota in each Liberty Loan drive. The women participated in numerous services of incalculable value. Beloit nurses and physicians entered the war service abroad; while each factory, as requested, responded with increased production. Many workmen eagerly placed them- selves at the disposal of the government to be sent anywhere to assist in any of the varied services required. The Four Minute men, under the chairmanship of Professor R. B. Way of Beloit College, spoke at the theaters, ball parks and churches ; in loyal further- ance of the government plans of development. Judge J. B. Clark, Uuane Arnold, W. II. Arnold, J. II. McNeel, Professor E. G. Smith, J. II. Burns, R. K. Rock- well, Rev. E. J. Evans and Lloyd Yost were the other members of the or- ganization. Beloit 's Service Flag contains forty-one Gold Stars. Eighteen of the number were killed in action. CLINTON Clinton, occupying the extreme southeast corner of the county, was settled by Deacon Chauneey Tuttle, Dr. Dennis Mills, Milton S. Warner, Charles Tuttle and Wm. S. Murray in 1837. In April of that year, they started from Meacham's Grove in Illinois for some suitable place on or near Rock River in Wisconsin. After five days of arduous toil through the mud and unhridged creeks and rivers they reached Blodgett's place, now Beloit. Piloted by Mr. Blodgett, they visited Jefferson Prairie where they deter- mined to settle. Recrossing Turtle Creek with their goods, they commenced a settlement on the west side of Jefferson Prairie within the present limits of the town of Clinton. Arriving about sundown on April 9th, they began the erec- tion of a frail structure which served their purposes as a house for eight days and nights. "It consisted of four crotches set in the ground, on which were placed cross poles, and a brush roof: sided up on three sides with Indian blan- kets and fronting on a log-heap fire by which was cooked the first settlers' sup- per in Clinton." As the land thereabouts was not then in the market, they made further exam- ination the next day. marked off a few sections and took possession of them in the name of the Jefferson Prairie Company. Csing their horses at once for the 424 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY collection of materials for a more permanent house, the body of the structure was raised by the middle of the afternoon, when Charles Tuttle started with the team for Rockford, the nearest point where grain could be procured. There the horses were exchanged for oxen and a breaking plow. About one hundred acres were broken that season, most of which was put under crops of corn, potatoes, oats, buckwheat and turnips. Daniel Mills joined the company about the middle of June, as did Stephen E. Downer, Daniel Tasker and their wives. These were the first white ladies to settle on Jefferson Prairie. In July, Oscar H. Pratt and Franklin Mitchell came from Joliet, Illinois, and made claims at Summerville ; building a log house in October which was occupied that fall and winter by Stacy L. Pratt, his three sisters and father. Henry L. Warner, Henry Tuttle, Albert Tuttle, Griswold Weaver, Mrs. Mil- ton Warner, Mrs. Daniel Mills and Miss Harriet Warner joined the settlement in 1837 on the west side of the prairie. The log houses erected very soon by Milton S. Warner and Daniel Mills furnished accommodations for boarders and travelers. As Chicago was the nearest provision market, prices were high on the prairie ; flour selling then from $10 to $12 per barrel in Chicago and pork $6 to $8 and $9, "in the hog." Very early in the settlement when but eight Americans had "claimed" on the prairie came a Norwegian named Ole Knudson Natesta, who settled in the southern part of the town. His arrival marked the first Norwegian settlement of Wisconsin, and the fourth in the United States. He was born in Vaegli, Norway, December 24, 1807, and died in Clinton, May 28, 1886. In 1837 he, together with a party of his countrymen, started for America very much as the Mayflower group did and, like them, were men of strong and deep religious convictions. They were men of firmness and marked individuality, willing to sacrifice home, friends and fatherland for freedom of thought. They could read and write their own language and a number of them were teachers and graduates of higher institutions of learning. On July 1st, 1838, Ole K. Natesta staked his claim and in his own words: "I built a little log hut and in this residence received in September (1839) a number of my own parish in Norway. Most of these settled on Jefferson Prairie and in this way the settlement got a large population in a comparatively short time." The Norwegian immigrants came over rapidly when they heard of this won- derful land and spread all through the county, but especially settling in the townships of Rock, Newark, Avon, Spring Valley and Plymouth — these occupy- ing largely the southwestern part of the county. Each succeeding year brought additions and by 1843 the great wave of Norwegian immigration was fairly on. In 1838-39, considerable additions were made to the settlement on Jefferson Prairie and much time was spent by all most cheerfully in the numerous log- house raisings. The first load of grain, consisting of buckwheat and corn, sent to mill from the town, was taken by Griswold Weaver to a mill on the Piscasaw Creek, below Belvidere, Illinois, in January, 1838. Roscoe was the nearest post office in 1838. Amusing is the account of the first political speech given in the town. The orator, elevated by his admirers into a lumber wagon, in front of Charles Tuttle 's THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 425 house, began thus: "Gentlemen: To begin with, I am roughshod; fourteen ribs mi a side, and am hard to handle. If I go to Madison, I expect to go on my own hook, and get back the best way 1 can. I have no hobby upon which to ride into office. My hobby horse's head and tail is down. Some men will promise you a canal, fitted up in every little ravine and rivulet for steam- boats to ply on, with a glibness, Some one thing and some another; but, gen- tlemen, I can't say what I shall do when I'm elected." The town was organized in 1842 and was then nine miles square, taking in what has since become parts of Bradford and Turtle. The first birth in the town was that of Lucy Downer, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Downer, in the year 1838. Religious services were conducted in 1838 at the home of Charles Tuttle. The first school was taught by Miss Eliza Baker in 1843 at Willis Corners with twenty pupils. As an agricultural town, Clinton is hardly surpassed by any in the state. It is traversed by many beautiful little spring-fed streams furnishing water for many farms. Limestone quarries are abundant, furnishing good building stone. Surrounded by this prosperous farming community, the village of Clinton with a population of almost one thousand, has become an up-to-date, thriving center, with splendid residences, churches and schools. Most of its streets are paved and the boulevard running through the main part of the town is a joy to the beholder's eye as he motors along. SHOPIERE The village of Shopiere, though very small, is worthy of attention. Lying peacefully on the banks of Turtle Creek a few miles northeast of Beloit, it has a story all its own as told by one of its early pioneers, which, because of its humor and historic value, should be preserved. In its settlement is typified the real "Borderers," showing also the courageous though ludicrous part that women apparently could be relied upon to play in those early days. Its first settlers consisted of three men, William Smith, Horace Rice and Hudson Cass, who came from Beloit in 1836; Mr. Smith "claiming" on the south side of the creek, Mr. Rice and Mr. Cass on the north. Soon after this settlement was commenced, however, a Dutch family by the name of Meeker "claimed" and built a shanty where Shopiere now stands. The family, which consisted of father, mother, five sons and five daughters, was most remarkable for size — the number averaging about 200 pounds each. They belonged to the class known in the western country as "Borderers" — a sort of connecting link between civilization and barbarism — "always moving on." From Pennsylvania originally, they moved to Ohio, then to Indiana, then to Illinois and now had landed in Wisconsin ; always keeping a little ahead of civilization. •fust about this time, a company from Connecticut came and claimed on the north side of the creek just opposite Shopiere. Here were two distinct groups with but a creek running between them; the Meekers kind beyond meas- ure to friends, but merciless to foes; the Connecticut colony composed of people of an entirely different character and disposition, having brought along with them many of those peculiar notions for which that state is noted. Imagine 426 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the consequences resulting from such proximity of two settlements with such contrasting characters. The Meekers were not slow in nick-naming the Connecticut people and other- wise annoying them in little ways, but "no open rupture occurred until the latter part of the summer of 1837 when both parties commenced cutting hay on the bottoms of the north side of the stream. The Yankees proving to be the smartest workers, were likely to monopolize all the hay, and thus rob old Brin- dle — the only stock possessed by the Meekers — of her rights and subject her to a winter of browsing. This was too much for a generous nature to bear, with any degree of equanimity. Uncle John from his cabin door discovered the true state of things, and sounded the bugle for a general parade of the colony. They got together all of the firearms about the premises — charged them heavily — and a log, extending from one corner of their cabin eight to ten feet, served as a resting place for their muskets and rifles — all ready for a discharge upon the offending Yankees — while he, with stentorian voice, worthy of a general officer, ordered them to disperse and leave the hay, or in case they neglected to obey, he would discharge a broadside into them. The Yankees, reckless of conse- quences, did not heed the threat, but continued the work of raking and carting off the hay. "Matters were now coining to an 'awful' crisis. It was thought best to hold a council of war at the 'Meeker fort' when it was thought best to dispatch a detachment consisting of the old lady and her five daughters to attempt to drive the marauders from the ground, while Uncle John and the five sons were to keep possession of the 'fort.' The old lady, armed with a long-tined pitchfork, the daughters each with a fish spear, actuated by the strongest sympathy for 'poor old Brindle, ' presented no mean battle array on the south bank of the Turtle, each one fully six feet in her shoes. Having arrived at the stream the heroine thus addressed her daughters : ' The infernal Yankees are the pest of our lives. We left Pennsylvania for Ohio to get away from them ; again we left Ohio for Indiana ; and then to Illinois, and at last have arrived at this place, and here they are ; and now I am determined to make a stand and fight, for I will not go any further. ' ' Go it, mother, we will follow you, ' was the unanimous response ; when, brandishing their weapons, they started to ford the stream. "The Yankees observing the warlike movements on the opposite side had not been idle ; but heroically acting up to the exigency of the circumstances, made choice of 'Whale' to command the defense. He at once ordered the hay wagons to be arranged for a breast-work, and thus addressed his confreres : 'I sincerely thank you for the honor conferred, in making choice of me for your commander — you who in old Connecticut have been brought up to clam digging and wooden-nutmeg manufacture — who came all the way from "away doAvn east" to claim the little territory of Wisconsin — now prepare yourselves to defend your rights; to fight the Meekers individually and collectively — males and females. If in this fearful contest, I should be slain, Oh, fail not to bear Hie mournful tidings to my disconsolate widow and fatherless children, and assure them that I fell nobly defending my rights and those of my fellow citizens ! ' "By this time the assailants had approached the breastworks. The old lady THE ROCK RIVEK VALLEY 427 ordered her valiant daughters to charge upon the company, while she made an individual onset upon the Captain, which she did by approaching him with the long-tined fork. The Captain drew a pistol and ordered her to stand — to ad- vance at the peril of her life; but she was well aware of her safety under cover of the guns at the "fort'; — so, nothing daunted, she pricked him out from behind the ramparts — he continuing to step backwards as she advanced — still threat- ening to tire if she advanced 'another bach,' until ere he was aware, he backed off the hank of a bayou of the stream, into eight feet of water. She, observing her advantage, gave him a severe thrust as he went down the bank, when he dove and swam beyond the reach of her fork. "The rest of the company — assailed by the girls — stood their ground, cou- rageously defending themselves, until they saw their Captain fall; and, supposing that lie was killed, hastily retreated, and left the field to the undisputed victors. They hurried to the settlement to break the sad news to the widow, who, being just in the act of fainting, was joyfully relieved by the presence of the Captain, all dripping with mud and water. The trophies consisted of three rakes, one fork, one pail of rations, containing four Yankee johnny cakes, eight cold pota- toes, one jug of whiskey, etc." The battle just described gave to the place the name of Waterloo. When a post office was established and it was found that there was another town in the state by that name, it was changed to its present name of Shopiere — a corrup- tion of the French word "Cheaux," meaning lime — pierre signifying stone; so named because of the abundance of excellent limestone found in the village. governor harvey's war work As was their custom, the Meekers soon moved on and in 1837 Blodgett pur- chased the Meeker claim and built a sawmill. The first importation to Shopiere was a distillery ; the first exports from this place, a load of whiskey, sent to Janesville. But L. P. Harvey coming to Shopiere some time in 1850, purchased the water-power, tore down the distillery that had cursed the village, building in its place a stone flour mill, four stories high and a retail store. Largely through his influence and gifts, a neat stone Congregational Church was built, his uncle. Rev. 0. S. Powell becoming the pastor. In 1853 Mr. Harvey was elected to the Senate of Wisconsin; later became secretary of state and finally, in 1861, was made governor by a large majority. Governor Harvey's message following his inauguration, the first annual message after the opening of the war, was said to have equaled that of any executive Wisconsin had ever had. He was a good public speaker and a man of great practical sense. Immediately after the bloody battle of Pittsburg Landing, Governor Harvey gathered ninety boxes of the most serviceable supplies for the soldiers — sixty- one from .Milwaukee, thirteen from .Madison, nine from Janesville, six from Beloit and one from Clinton — and personally accompanied them to see that the supplies were properly distributed to the wounded and sick Wisconsin boys. At Cairo, Mound City and Paducah and in the hospitals and on the hospital boats, his kind words of cordial sympathy warmed and comforted the hearts of these brave soldiers. His coming to Savannah, where more than two hundred 428 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY wounded soldiers were suffering from neglect, and his kindness and care over them caused scenes so affecting that the feelings of both governor and men were often too strong for words. Upon the governor 's arrival at the camp at Pittsburg Landing where hundreds of men, who had been rushed into battle only a few weeks after leaving their state, lay sick and wounded, he worked unceasingly among them, endeavoring in every conceivable way to relieve their suffering and to renew their courage and hope. He was a manly Christian and wherever he went he left behind him a thrill of joy. On Saturday morning, April 19, 1862, Governor Harvey went ten miles down the Tennessee River to Savannah to take the steamer there the next morning for Cairo. About ten o'clock that evening as the boat that he was on, the "Dun- leith," was passing another boat, the "Minnehaha," he, with others, stood near the edge and fore part of his steamer. The governor, stepping to one side as the bow of the "Minnehaha" swung around close to the party on the "Dun- leith, " slipped and fell overboard between the two steamers. In spite of the frantic efforts of his friends, the current being strong, he must have been drawn under by the boats and was drowned. It was some days before his body was found about sixty-five miles below where he fell. The remains were hastily buried there, but later taken to Madison and there interred with public services in Forest Hill Cemetery. A day of rest was set aside by Lieutenant Governor Salomon to commemorate Governor Harvey's death and great was the grief' of the people that their much-loved governor had been taken from them when but forty-two years of age. FULTON AND EDGERTON As early as 1836, Robert and Daniel Stone, not satisfied with Michigan, to which they had gone from Parishville, New York, continued their course west- ward until they reached Rock River Valley. Pushing up to the mouth of the Yahara (Catfish) River, they found a spot such as their adventurous spirits were seeking. So they stopped here on this prairie with its rich soil, beside the fine stream, with its abundant water power, and made their claims. The following year they broke eight acres of land, planting it with beans and corn, and in 1838 they built the first log house in the town of Fulton in the vicinity of the present city of Edgerton. Other settlers were not slow in coming who took up claims and turned their attention to the cultivation of the soil. It was not long before Foster's ferry was established by Wm. B. Foster on his place in the southern part of the town- ship of Fulton and the Goodrich ferry, located near the foot of Lake Kosh- konong, was established and run by the man bearing that name. In 1841 a dam was built across the Yahara and a sawmill erected. In 1845 Dr. Guy Stoughton contracted with Mr. Hanchett of Beloit to build a dam on the river at the foot of Lake Koshkonong. When this was completed a sawmill was built which was operated for several years and then converted into a grist mill. About the same time the first bridge was built across the river at Indian Ford by private subscription and in 1848 the first railroad was put through. The pioneers early realized the importance of stock raising as a means of THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 429 preserving their Lands; thus they were among the first to work up a system of farming adapted especially to their soil and elimate. They procured and reared herds of stock to consume the offal of their grain crops and to enrich the soil upon which their crops made such a heavy draft. Beeves, horses, sheep and the products of the dairy they found to be items of marketable value from which they realized a vast amount of money. Up among the hills on the banks of the Yahara in the little town of Fulton the first creamery in Rock County was established. That was in 1877 and that year they made 38,000 pounds of butter. Fulton Center or "Indian Ford," as it was .formerly called from the fact of its having been a crossing place for the Indians in their travels up and down the valley of the Rock River, is, as its name implies, in the center of things. It is situated on the Sahara River near the junction with the Rock and in the early days, •'when politicians wrote the ticket, public meetings were held there." Replacing the first wooden bridge that was built across the river here in 1846, a line bent iron one was built in 1896 at a cost of nearly $10,000. Alive and up-to-date, the settlers round about this community have ever been read} - for each onward movement of civilization. In 1862 the tobacco industry being favorable, they began the sawing of tobacco lath, or lath for the purpose of stringing tobacco. In 1868 a flour mill was built. Next came an electric light plant and in 1895 a cooperative cheese factory which after running a year was turned into a butter factory. But it is through the thriving little city of Edgerton that this locality became known — became famous, in fact. When one thinks of Edgerton, one thinks of tobacco, for it is through the raising, purchasing and exporting of tobacco that Edgerton grew up and prospered. When but a small village, it early assumed importance as a cigar center, continuing to grow until in 1916 it Mas one of the greatest primary cigar wrapper markets in the country. Messrs. Ed. Hall and Robt. Johnson, in 1853, were the first to plant the "weed"; but, ignorant as they were of its growth, they failed to save the first crop. A few years later, however, Ralph Pomeroy, an old Ohio grower, came to the rescue and solved the mystery of successfully growing and saving tobacco. The history of the growth shows its "ups and downs" with many "setbacks" and encouragements, but from 1860 the amount of tobacco garnered gradually increased until the tobacco buyer in Edgerton became as important as the cotton buyer in the South. Wisconsin soil was especially adapted to the raising of tobacco and the Norwegians, who predominated in the tobacco regions, soon acquired from their American neighbors the art of tobacco culture. They proved to be well adapted to the industry, for not only were they painstaking and industrious, but they were able to employ in the light work, involved in tobacco raising, the large families with which immigrants were blessed. To this day Scandinavians are the chief tobacco growers of the state. The land upon which Edgerton is situated remained in its primitive condi- tion with not a furrow turned, a fence built, or an improvement made until the early '40s. In 1842 Wm. Bliven arrived, built a log house and became the first permanent settler. Others followed and more log houses were built, but this section of the country was not eagerly sought. The discovery of surface clay, then of immense beds of clay in this locality 430 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY existing beneath the surface suitable for white brick, resulted in an enterprise which marked the beginning of an industry carried on to this day. But beyond this resource and the water power in Saunders Creek which turned a small sawmill, there seemed to be little in the low, marshy land to recommend this location for the platting of a village. But because of the greed and avarice of the land owners about Fulton and Indian Ford, who asked such exorbitant prices for their land, the railroad company changed its route and laid the line three miles farther north. Enterprising citizens in this community, seizing their opportunity, gladly donated twenty-three acres of land for depot grounds and railroad purposes, and with the completion of the railroad in 1853 Edgerton, or "Fulton depot" as it was first called, got its start. The coming of the railroad brought mail, and Frank Hall was made postmaster with the office in his house. The "post office," together with a little whiskey shop and a store in Mr. Jessup's house, constituted this infant village. But the railroad brought immediate results, many of the laborers on the road becoming permanent settlers. The erection of the Exchange Hotel by Nelson Coon established the advent of civilization and the years '54 and '55 were marked by considerable development and growth. Two brick stores and the United States hotel sprang up, besides a number of dwellings. Of the latter the three residences of Mr. Babcock, Mr. Copley and Mr. Mclnness were considered magnificent and were the pride and envy of the other citizens. They were heated with stoves and lighted by tallow candles. Quaint stories are told about the quail, prairie chickens and pigeons that found in this marshy land such an ideal home. As ducks in those days were easily obtained by shooting them from the back door of the United States Hotel, the first proprietor always served a duck dinner to unexpected guests and some one was sure to tell one of the favorite stories of an old hunter that ducks were so thick about the schoolhouse yard that ' ' one could hardly see the sun. ' ' So from these small beginnings the village grew by the arrival of energetic, sturdy, industrious men who came to improve their condition and make attractive homes. Seeking quick growing shade trees to adorn their streets and homes they found in the soft maple and elm, along the streams and shores of Lake Koshkonong, trees admirably fitted for this purpose. They gathered seed, sowed them in nurseries, transplanted the young trees and the citizens of today are enjoying the beautiful streets and cooling shade that their foresight and industry furnished. Randolph Brown's name stands out conspicuously as one who stim- ulated his neighbors in this laudable work. His zeal, enthusiasm and public spirit in lining the streets with maples and elms carried him so far as to start nurseries from which were supplied most of the shade trees that now grace the highways of this vicinity. In a paper prepared and read by a citizen of Edgerton, in 1903 before the Federation of Women's Clubs, she expresses a sentiment which quite likely insti- gated the settlers of that early day to start their schools. "The most prolific source of wealth in any state is the undeveloped brain power of its children. The perfect fruit of public schools is a youth properly educated to enable him to effectively use common sense and as a worthy citizen meet the world as he finds it." So the people, apparently recognizing these facts, organized in 1845, three years before Wisconsin became a state, a school which assembled in Wil- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 431 liam Bliven's double log house with Sherman Fassett, the teacher. A little red school house was built the next year in the woods near the county line on William Bliven's farm and in this was held not only the public school, but civil and religious meetings as well. As the years have gone by larger and more substantial school buildings have been erected to meet the needs demanded by the children and today Edgerton's Bchools average well with those of other places of its size. Unlike the early religious history of many of the other settlements in the county, Edgerton, strictly speaking, was not settled by religious people. For- tunately, however, there was a spark of Christianity which was fanned and kepi burning by the few who stood firm in their convictions and duty toward God and man. The first religious services were held in the little log schoolhouse and Mr. Bunting, a Primitive Methodist, who owned a lumber yard, preached. In 1853 when the railroad depot was completed, services were held there — the only scats usually being tilled grain sacks. After a long and hard struggle a church was finally incorporated in 1863, under the name of the Methodist Epis- copal Church of Edgerton, and the year following they had a building of their own, with a seating capacity of two hundred. Other denominations developed and flourished and we find there today many monuments testifying to the great perseverance, noble self-sacrifice, hope and faith of the "chosen few." While the fame of Edgerton is closely allied with the growing and handling of leaf tobacco, it has launched various other interesting projects. The Monarch Laboratory of Edgerton, for instance, was established b} r Wilson Brothers in 1888. Though Monarch Oil was the first product put upon the market, the busi- uess has so expanded that now there are nearly a hundred different kinds of Monarch preparations. The sale of these remedies has been phenomenal — known and sold in every state in the union. Then there is the Pauline Pottery and the Art and Clay Works, which have made the name of Edgerton known in the art circles of many cities. Though the clay pits have been utilized for years in the manufacture of brick, the first exhibit of the pottery at Marshall Field's, Chicago, created quite a furore among people who appreciated its excellence. It is a glazed ware modeled in artistic shape and hand-decorated in beautiful colors and designs. The Art Clay Works started in Edgerton under two Danish potters, the Samson brothers. They man- ufactured statues, bas-reliefs, etc., in the natural color of clay. The work is of a high order and is shipped to all parts of the country. One of the most unique enterprises in Edgerton is the "Feeding Station" launched about 1902 by Dr. Shepard in cooperation with the Chicago, Milwau- kee & St. Paul Railroad. They established feeding yards here with shed-rooms for 5,000 sheep and yard room for 10,000. Sheep sent from the ranches of Washington and Montana are brought here to rest and recuperate from the trip before being put on the Chicago market. The length of time that the sheep are kept is governed by their condition and the quotations in the market. The excellent pasturage and good railway service between St. Paul and Chicago make Edgerton an ideal place for such an undertaking. Due to the immediate success of the scheme, accommodations were doubled the first year, and from August 100,000 sheep had been received before the close of the first year. As 432 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY there is little competition in this line, it has proved to be a great enterprise for Edgerton. But, after all, almost everything in Edgerton seems to revolve about tobacco for, as tobacco grew, Edgerton was forced to grow. The first bank, known as the Bank of Edgerton, was incorporated in 1880. After running until 1897, it closed its doors and passed into the hands of a receiver. The Tobacco Exchange Bank was then organized with a capital of $35,000, which has continued its existence and is today a prosperous and growing institution. Because of the immense tobacco trade, vast sums of money pass through this bank every year. The banking business of the city is shared with the First National Bank which was incorporated in 1903. The first newspaper published in Edgerton was the Edgerton Union. The failure of this paper and another similar to it, caused the business men of the town to subscribe $200 to bring Messrs. Tousleys of Ft. Atkinson to start a newspaper for them. They published the Independent from 1874 to 1877, when the name of this weekly newspaper was changed to the "Wisconsin Tobacco Re- porter. This paper sends out market reports that are quoted the world over as standard authority. The first tobacco crops were stored in grain elevators and sheds on the depot grounds but, in 1869, the first warehouses were built. In 1870, with the large number of eastern buyers influencing the farmers to grow more tobacco, more warehouses were needed. These were hastily made frame buildings set on wooden blocks, but in 1885, realizing the great danger from fire, two brick warehouses were erected which have since become the approved type of building. With the constantly increasing number of warehouses and other valuable property, came a need for better water supply in case of fire. This led to the drilling of an artesian well which was completed in 1890. This proving inade- quate, a franchise was granted to a non-resident company to drill a larger well in order to have a water works plant. After the completion of the plant, it was accepted under the franchise in August, 1897. That same year the city pur- chased the franchise and the complete water works plant for $28,000. Edgerton long had telephone connections with the surrounding cities and in 1896 the Wisconsin Bell Telephone Company put in a local exchange. Electric lighting was introduced in 1892. The electricity was furnished by the electric light plant on the Catfish River. So Edgerton today, with its many warehouses, its fine central location and the concentration rates granted by the railroads, is very convenient for buyers to purchase leaf in the outside sections and ship in less than carload lots for concentration. It early became the headquarters of many of the large man- ufacturing firms from whose offices their business in Wisconsin leaf was directed, making Edgerton the largest tobacco leaf market in the world. MILTON In 1836, when the present city of Janesville contained but two cabins, a group of men found in the prairie region northeast of Janesville a spot that struck their fancy. They M T ere men of temperate habits, peaceable and industrious. Stretching out before them was this beautiful prairie, picturesque and varied; THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 433 timber on the outskirts convenient to supply sufficient wood for farming pur- poses, several small lakes, Otter Creek running peacefully along, Lake Kosh- konong in the distance, Rock River not far off, and numerous springs, small streams and marshes — altogether plenty of water for good farming. While now it is so near the city of Janesville, but thirty miles from Madison and about sixty miles west of Lake Michigan, in those early days the nearest place of market was Chicago, for even Milwaukee was at that time of humble pretensions. Unusual were the days of toil and anxiety for they were called upon to endure privations of every kind. Imagine if we can "packing provi- sions even in scanty supplies from the frontier settlements for an hundred miles hack into a wilderness country'." They erected cabins in the simplest form possible. A typical one is described thus: "Fourteen feet square, covered with shakes, as long shingles were called, the gable ends being finished with logs, and the shingles held in their places by weight poles on top instead of nails. The bed usually had but one post, the logs of the house answering for the other three. Many would be housed in such quarters, three in the bed, as many under it, while others ranged themselves on the floor around the fire." The prairie, called Du Lac Prairie, is about five miles long and ranging from one-half to one and one-half miles wide. But the great attraction seemed to be a tableland of nearly circular form of a mile in diameter rising about seventy- five or eighty feet, situated almost in the center of the prairie. It is level like the rest of the prairie, has a rich black loamy soil, fertile and productive. So many of the settlers were drawn to this lovely place in 1838 that the village of Milton was started. Almost from the beginning the pioneers without regard to sectarianism, united and supported religious meetings. "They gave to their minister such of their substance as they could spare, and their sub- scriptions for the support of ministerial labors were duly paid in labor, produce and cash ; the last of which article, so scanty that when it touched the palm of the extended hand of the official, it felt truly spiritual." The same early settler writes further : "Its first settlers having a tincture of the blood of our Pil- grim Fathers coursing in their veins, have studiously and piously endeavored to keep those hot-beds of sin and iniquity — grog-shops — out of this town. And until the present time (1856) they have succeeded; and yet they feel like wag- ing war upon the infernal traffic, until not even a jug shall be seen to wend its way to .Janesville, there to be filled with the genuine R. G., and then retnrn to its bloated-visaycd devotee, and through him render an innocent family miser- able and unhappy." Politically many battles were fought between the whig and democratic par- ties, for they were about equally balanced yet the moral tone of Milton always caused the petty tyrants to quake with apprehensions of danger. Thus Milton, one of the oldest villages in Rock County, is located on a bit of the richest and most picturesque prairie in the county. It was first called Prairie du Lac, but because the name so closely resembled that of another vil- lage, Prairie du Sac, it was changed, in order to avoid confusion, to Milton. I. T. Smith, coming in 1837, was the pioneer of this spot and Daniel F. Smith the first settler who brought his family. The first marriage ceremony performed in Rock County is said to have been that which united James Murray 434 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and Margaret McEwan, of this place, the officiating officer being Rev. David Smith, pastor of the Congregational Church of Du Lac, as it was then called. But it is with the name of Joseph Goodrich that the early history of Milton is particularly linked. Coming in the year 1839 he, a man of bold, energetic character, conceived the idea of founding a village and it was to his indomitable perseverance and generosity that Milton owes her start and prosperity. It was he who built the first house in the village ; it was he who built the first tavern. He gave the land for the public square of Milton and he, together with James Pierce, his hired man, laid it out. He gave the land for the first church, for the school and the college and for the cemetery, including the right-of-way for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad which, through his tact and superior management, was located through the place. Joseph Goodrich was the first postmaster and he was the founder and patron of the academy or select school established in 1844. Milton College is the out- growth of the select school opened in 1844. In the year 1848 it was incorporated as Du Lac Academ}^, w T hich in 1854 was reorganized under the name Milton Academy. In April, 1867, its charter as a college was granted by the State, and the first class graduated in 1870. A coeducational Christian institution from the first, its ideals have always been honest work of the highest character and liberal culture in general. Although the Seventh Day Baptists have been its main supporters and its earliest history has had the closest sympathetic relation with that denomination, students of all religious faiths are received upon equal terms and allowed the free exercise of their beliefs. There have been three presidents of Milton College. In 1858 Rev. William C. Whitford becoming president of Milton Academy continued as president of Milton College from the time of the granting of the college charter in 1867 until his death in 1902. The Rev. William C. Deland served from 1902 until his death in 1921, when Alfred E. Whitford was made acting president, and was elected to the office in 1923. Rules and regulations have grown up around this institution during these many years and it has become a tradition for students to respect them. Examples of these are : The absolute prohibition of the use of intoxicating liquors, under pain of expulsion ; the prohibition of profane and obscene language at all times and in all forms; and the prohibition of card-playing, social dancing, and the use of tobacco on the grounds or in the buildings of the college. There are twenty-three professors and instructors on the faculty, the students number a little less than 250 and there are five buildings in the college plant. EVANSVILLE In the early days of settlement Union and Evansville, located in the north- western part of the county, were very closely associated. Up to 1848, the prin- cipal center of business for the whole country between Janesville and Madison was at the village of Union, three miles north of the present site of Evansville and situated on the stage road equally distant from Janesville and Madison. Prior to 1849, the residents of the district in which Evansville now lies were compelled to go to Union for their mail, for then Evansville had neither name nor post office. THE ROCK RIV E R V A LLE Y 435 Rut when Evansville gol a start, she quickly outstripped Cnion, and is today a thriving city of 2,200 inhabitants with modern churches and schools, important banks and manufacturing interests, affording Union township farmers a fine market. The township in which Evansville is located is composed largely of rolling prairie, well watered by Allen's Creek and tributaries. It is a thickly pnimlatt'd township, with well improved farms upon which crops of various kinds are raised. Tobacco and sugar beets are among the most prominent. Hiram Griffith, Royd Phelps, Stephen -Jones, Erastus Quivey and John Griffith were the first to settle in Evansville and made their camp in June, 1839, near the large spring on what was later the Coleman farm. The place received its name from Dr. J. M. Evans, the first physician who settled there and who, in 1853, was elected to the Legislature of Wisconsin and in 1873 was again elected to the General Assembly. Another name prominent in the history of Evansville is A. S. Raker, the founder of the Raker Manufacturing Company. This company was organized in 1873 as the firm of A. S. Raker & Company for the manufacture of windmills and iron pumps; and, interesting here to note, really established a business of which the present Large industry is the outgrowth. After careful consideration of the subject of profit-sharing, the plan, of a committee consisting of Allen S. Raker, John 8. Baker (his son) and C. J. Smith, was adopted February 24, 1899, and it was unanimously decided to pay each man, who had been in the com- pany's employ during the past year, ten per cent, in cash, of wages earned by each for that year, including salaried men. Thus began in Rock County the much talked of plan of profit-sharing. It became a notable example of this new principle and practice; reports showing harmonious relations between employers and employees and the mutual satisfaction in the results of all concerned. All branches of business are represented here, the largest being The Evans- ville Mercantile Association, founded about 1873, the successor of the famous Grange store of an earlier day. The development of the schools of Evansville is interesting and worthy of note. It is recorded that the first schoolhouse in the settlement was built in 184] aboul a mile and a half west of the present site of Evansville. The second was built at or near Union and the third, on the present site of Evansville. Bearing thai a committee of the .Methodist Church General Conference of the United States had been appointed to divide the state of Wisconsin into two or more general conferences, each of which was to have a seminary of its own, it appeared to .Messrs. David S. Mills and (). F. Comfort a good opportunity to ,L r et a seminary located in Evansville. They followed this up and in 1856 the Legislature passed an act entitled "An A.c1 to incorporate the Evansville Sem- inary." Mr. Mills and his wife donated two acres of ground, designating it for the "'express purposes of a seminary, upon the condition that a brick or Stone building, three stories in height and covering an area of not less than 2,500 square feet of ground, should be erected within two years. The building was completed, as stated, the school opened and continued until 1870. Due to some misunderstanding about the title, however, the seminary was closed and the premises handed over to the Baptisl denomination on condition that they should endow it with $10,000. Acceding to the proposition, it was reopened but the attempt to carry it on proved unsuccessful due to the fact that an eight- Vol. 1—28 436 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY room school building, having been erected in the previous year, the seminary students withdrew and entered the new institution. The Baptists then declined to fulfill their part of the contract in reference to the endowment so, in 1874, surrendered the building to the former directors and, in 1876, the seminary was finally abandoned as an institution of learning, the buildings and land passing into the hands of the Evansville Boot and Shoe Company. In 1879, however, a transfer was again made and the institution is now maintained and conducted by the Free Methodists. Evansville had the first free High School in the county outside of Janes- ville and Beloit. The school was early placed on the accredited list to all of the leading colleges and the State University. Of the three members who graduated in the first class in 1873, one was the late President Van Hise of the University of Wisconsin. The year 1924 has been prosperous for Evansville, with little unemployment and with notable civic and private improvements. One of the great features of the year's progress is the better light and power facilities. An ornamental sj^s- tem of thirty-six lights was installed on Main Street at the expense of property owners and tenants. The Baker Manufacturing Company had a good year with but few men laid off. During the last four months of the year business picked up and a six-day schedule, with all men employed, was put into effect on December 13th. The D. E. Wood Butter Company employed a large force, because of the great in- crease in its poultry business. The peak of the business found it feeding 15,000 head and killing from 2,000 to 2,400 daily. The poultry is received from farms within a radius of twenty miles and is milk-fed and sent to eastern markets. A total of 1,600,000 cans of peas were packed by the Garden Canning Company. Business in the two tobacco warehouses has been good and many women were employed last year. Tourists of today are unanimous in their praise of Evansville. It is well laid out and its streets are lined with beautiful trees of various kinds. Its homes are modern and many handsome residences are found there. The stage coach of yesterday has given place to the auto-busses of today, several running daily through the city, on their way between Beloit and Madison. OTHER VILLAGES In locating some of the smaller villages of the county we discover the centers of the various types of farming. In the eastern part of the county there are Emerald Grove, the gem of the prairie, Rock Prairie and Johnston; all small villages surrounded by farms devoted particularly to raising blooded stock, horses and cattle, which compares favorably with the best in the state. Then there is Lima Center in the northeastern corner of the county where the farmers, in addition to stock raising, pay special attention to dairying. It is this section that was particularly hit by the Railroad Farm Mortgages. In 1852, made to believe that the advent of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad would open up their part of the country, they, with the optimistic minds of the usual western settler, not overly cautious in that period of pros- perity, fell ready victims to the fraudulent mortgage scheme. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 437 Another one of these eastern villages is .Mount Zion. Perched upon a fine elevation in the township of Harmony just east of Janesville, it is often spoken of as a natural observatory. Prom here one can overlook at least 140,000 acres of the finesl agricultural land in the state. Then in the western part of the county we have the village of Center, located in the banner tobacco raking section. Footville, another small place, is sur- rounded by farms raising sugar beets, especially, in addition to tobacco. Orfordville is a thriving little town of about 500 inhabitants set in the midst of abundant crops of all kinds, tobacco heading the list; and because of this Orfordville has many warehouses. Magnolia is surrounded by some of the best stock farms of the state. Then in the southwestern corner, situated near the Sugar River, is Avon Center. This section has the distinction of having been first settled by a woman. Mrs. Gunale was a Norwegian who came in 1842 and built a log cabin in which she lived with her four daughters. It was in the following year that so many Norwegians came to this part of the county and Mrs. Gunale and her daughters dispensed freely their kindness and hospitality to all the new comers. Now to trace the history and growth of agriculture in the county one nat- urally starts with the year 1848, for up to that time wheat had been the staple crop grown and had been profitable and successful. The county contains 450,- 285 acres and, at the time of the early settlement, the soil being new and con- taining all of the elements necessary to producing large yields, wheat was as sure as any other. But the farmer had the deluded notion that wheat could be successfully grown for an indefinite period and that manuring, rotating crops, seeding down, growing stock, etc., were altogether unnecessary. So the day of reckoning came, blight-rotting of the wheat while standing in the held. This year and succeeding ones were the gloomiest years of the agricultural history — the marked epoch; and sadness and discouragement pervaded the agricultural countenance. Most of the farmers had come West to raise wheat, very little attention being paid to any other crop. They relied upon this great staple; they contracted debts from their farms, expecting their wheat crops to pay. And when they failed, the money lenders from the East were afraid to loan their money on real estate security in Wisconsin, believing that farming here was about to prove a failure. So they took their money back with them, although the farmers were ready and willing to pay the most exorbitant rates of interest rather than, as they feared, lose their farms entirely. But the "Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanic Arts'' came to the rescue and in pursuance of organizing such a society, the following call for that purpose was sent out: First Call To the Farmers of Rock County: The farmers in the several towns are re- quested to send delegates to meet at the courthouse in Janesville on the first Monday of January next, at 11 o'clock, a. m., to make arrangements for their own benefit, by association. All other classes associate — why not the farmers? Farmers, awake to your interests! [Signed] Wm. F. Tompkins, J. P. Wheeler. Janesville, Nov. 19, 1850. 438 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Thus began one of the greatest determining factors in the growth and devel- opment of Agriculture in Rock County. The object of the society, as expressed in the constitution, was "to encourage Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts" and "to animate and cheer each other in the laborious duties of their calling." J. P. Wheeler was made president of the society, meetings were called fre- quently and in October, 1851, the society held its first Fair. These meetings, with their instructive addresses, and the Fairs, with their competitions and helpful discussions, taught the farmer the folly of his ways. Calling science and education to his aid, he took heart and straightway a great change took place in agriculture. It began a respectable advance and in 1900 wheat raising in Rock County had almost ceased. Rock County today is one of "The Banner Five counties" which are spoken of as the heart of Wisconsin's Dairyland. For its size, it heads the list. Dane county, by reason of its larger size, having nearly twice as many farms as the other four counties of the Banner Five group, holds the top position in number and values. The total crop acreage in Rock County today is 274,327. Corn is the king of crops for the acreage and value in those counties, Rock having 104,811 acres valued at $3,102,406. Barley is a great crop in the county and the county still holds the lead for this important feed crop. There are 33,389 acres of barley produced in Rock County, valued at $590,651. In 1923 there were 7,706,470 pounds of tobacco raised in the county valued at $770,647. But the real income of the Wisconsin farmer comes from 2,217,000 head of dairy cattle along with other live stock and poultry. Wisconsin has more dairy cows than her nearest competitor, Minnesota. Rock County is credited with 44,300 head of dairy cows, valued at $2,968,100 and producing in milk products at farm values $200,828,249.92. Hog raising is a well developed unit in a diversified Wisconsin farm, there being no better feed for hogs than the dairy byproducts. Rock County is reported as having 65,300 head of hogs valued at $646,470, and is one of the largest sheep raising counties in the state, especially of the fine breeding stock, having 9,300 head valued at $76,260. There are also in Rock County 14,300 head of horses, having a farm value of $1,401,400. It is often said, and that quite truly, that "the farmer is a capitalist in a small way and in a larger way is a laborer." In Rock County he has an average investment of $15,000 in his farm and herds. He is "an enterpriser — taking his ups and downs with season, flood and drought, and prices. He plants in hope, cultivates in faith, believing in the Scriptural faith that while the world stands, seed time and harvest will not fail — but he gambles on the market. He never sets the price." CHAPTER XVIII DANE COUNTY, WISCONSIN FIRST SETTLERS IN THE LEAD REGION — MADISON, WISCONSIN, AND DANE COUNTY — OLD CAPITOL OCCUPIED EARLY CHURCHES AND GOVERNORS — WISCONSIN A STATE — STATE HISTORIAL SOCIETY AND UNIVERSITY — CIVIL WAR MATTERS — DEATH OF DOTY, DODGE AND RANDALL — CAPITOL AND STATE UNIVERSITY MATTERS PROM- INENT WISCONSIN PEOPLE PASS AWAY — GOLDEN JUBILEE OF FIRST UNIVERSITY GRADUATING CLASS — LEGISLATURE APPROPRIATIONS FOR NEW CAPITOL — OPENING OF STATE GENERAL AND MEMORIAL HOSPITALS — THE CITY OF MADISON — STOUGH- TON AND OUTSIDE VILLAGES — DANE COUNTY, AGRICULTURALLY CONSIDERED. While Dane County does not lie in the main valley of the Rock River, it embraces the main reservoir of the great waterway, and its physical, archae- ological, traditional and recorded history, connects it with Illinois almost as much as with Wisconsin. All of this has been set forth in chapters which have already appeared. Dane is among the larger counties of the State, hav- ing an area of 1,202 square miles and a population of 89,432. As Madison was established as the territorial capital before Dane County was organized (March 11, 1839) it has been the governmental center of inter- est and typical of the advancement of the commonwealth for ninety years. It is therefore difficult to separate events which have transpired at the seat of government and classify them as local and county in distinction from those which have a more general significance. Therefore a chronological arrange- ment of leading and important happenings is adopted. When the first settlers of Dane County came from Springfield, Illinois, to the lead fields of southwestern Wisconsin, the Winnebago Indian uprising had .just been put down by Colonel Henry Dodge, General Henry Atkinson and Major William Whistler, and the Indians had given up their mining lands to the United States. These Dane County pioneers found strong indications of minerals at Blue Mounds, in the western districts near the Iowa County line. In 1829, after Fort Winnebago had been established at Portage the Chip- pewa, Ottawa and Pottowatomie ceded all their lands between the Rock and Wisconsin rivers, and thousands of miners settled in the lead region of north- western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. This clearance of Indian claims prepared the way for white settlement in southern Wisconsin. When Black Hawk and his Sauk warriors were crushed at the mouth of the Bad Axe, in August, 1832, security against Indian incursions was doubly assured. In the following year, the Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottowatomie ceded their lands south and west of Milwaukee. In 1834, land offices were established at Mineral Point and Green Bay, the first public sale of lands being held at the former in the lead region. The Military Road was laid out from Fort Crawford, 439 440 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Prairie du Chien, to Fort Howard, Green Bay, and it passed through Dane County. Thus Madison, Dane County and, to a large extent, the Territory of Wisconsin were products of the lead country boom. 1836 — In January, at the legislative assembly of the Territory of Michigan, James Duane Doty and others proposed to raise $1,200 to buy lands between Lakes Mendota and Monona, subject to private entry at Green Bay. On April 20th, the Territory of Wisconsin was organized by act of Con- gress. Henry Dodge was appointed governor, and on July 4th territorial or- ganization was completed with John S. Horner, of Virginia, as secretary. The Supreme Court was constituted by the appointment of Charles Dunn, David Irvin and William C. Frazier as justices. The first Territorial Assembly met at old Belmont (now Leslie, Lafayette County), October 25th. On November 24th, Madison, then merely a town on paper, was, against many competitors, chosen the capital, through the influence of Judge Doty, owner of the site. George W. Jones was elected by this Legislature the first territorial delegate to Congress. December 7, 1836, the Territorial Legislature passed an act creating the County of Dane, with Madison as its seat of justice. It was attached to Iowa County for judicial purposes. Mr. Doty named the new county in honor of Nathan Dane, who, as a delegate to the Continental Congress from Massa- chusetts, introduced into that body the Ordinance of 1787. 1837 — July 4th, the old capitol buildings occupied near the foot of King Street, near Lake Monona, the town site of Madison having been platted in early part of the year. 1838 — Congress appropriated land to endow the University of the Terri- tory of Wisconsin. Second Territorial Assembly met at Madison in November, but lack of ac- commodations caused it to adjourn until the following year. First newspaper in the county, the Wisconsin Enquirer, issued from Madi- son by Josiah A. Noonan, on the 8th of November. 1839 — Adjourned session of the Second Territorial Assembly met at Madison. First Methodist preaching in the county by Samuel Pillsbury, of the Aztalan Mission (Jefferson County). 1840 — Methodists and Congregationalists organize and hold services at As- sembly Hall in the old capitol, during the fall of this year. 1841 — James D. Doty was appointed governor to succeed Henry Dodge. 1842 — Catholics held first services, organizing St. Raphael's Church in cap- itol building. 1844 — Doty removed from the governorship of the territory, and Nathaniel P. Talmadge appointed his successor. First preaching under the auspices of the Evangelical Association. 1845 — Talmadge removed from the governorship and Henry Dodge reap- pointed. 1846 — The people voted in favor of a State Government. Congress passed the enabling act, and the first constitutional convention opened at Madison, October 15th. 1847 — Second constitutional convention opened at Madison, December 15th. 1848 — The second constitution was adopted by popular vote March 13th, 442 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and Wisconsin was admitted into the Union under act of Congress approved May 29th. Nelson Dewey was elected first State governor. The first Legis- lature convened June 5th, and two days later the state officers were sworn in. A free school system was established by law. A land grant for a university was made by Congress and the State University was incorporated. 1849 — The State Historical Society was organized by members of the first State Legislature, on January 30th. 1853 — Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad completed to Madison. 1854 — The first class was graduated from the State University. State Historical Society reorganized, with Lyman C. Draper, secretary. 1861 — April 15th, Governor Alexander W. Randall issued a proclamation calling for volunteers. Thirty-six companies tendered their services within a week. 1862 — April 19th, Governor Louis P. Harvey, while on a visit to the South to care for "Wisconsin soldiers wounded at Shiloh, was drowned in the Ten- nessee River. Edward Salomon became governor in his stead. In April, about seven hundred Confederate prisoners were received at Camp Randall, Madison. 1863 — A soldiers' hospital, named in honor of the late Governor Harvey, was opened in Madison through the efforts of his widow. 1864 — James T. Lewis inaugurated as fourth war-time governor. 1865 — Recruiting ceased April 13th. The entire number of troops fur- nished by the State during the war was 91,379, with death losses of 10,752. July 13th, death of ex-Governor James D. Doty. 1866 — February : Reorganization of the State University, and creation of the Agricultural College on the basis of the Merrill Grant. 1867 — Death of ex-Governor Henry Dodge, on June 19th. 1872— Death of ex-Governor Alexander W. Randall, first war governor of Wisconsin. 1875 — Free High School law enacted, and women first made eligible to school offices. 1878 — May 23rd: A cyclone swept through Grant, Iowa, Dane, Jefferson and counties to the east, entailing a large destruction of property and the death of twelve or fifteen persons. 1881— February 24th: Death of U. S. Senator Matt H. Carpenter. 1883 — November 8th : The south wing of the capitol extension at Madison fell, killing seven workmen. Establishment of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Madison, under the auspices of the State University. 1884 — December 1st: Science Hall, State University, was destroyed by fire. 1890 — Discovery of the Babcock Test and the subsequent establishment of the University Dairy School. 1891 — August 27th : Lyman C. Draper died. He was secretary of the Wisconsin State Historical Society in 1854-86, and during that time the lead- ing spirit in its work. 1895 — February 27th: Mrs. Cordelia A. P. Chester (formerly Mrs. Louis P. Harvey) died. July 4th : Death of Chief Justice Harlow S. Orton. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 443 1896 — May 23rd: Death of ex-Governor Lucius Fairchild. 1898 — Wisconsin raised and equipped four regiments of infantry and one battery for the Spanish-American war. 1900 — October 19th: Dedication of the new State Historical Library Build- ing at Madison. 1901 — January 7th: Governor Robert M. La Follette was inaugurated, the first native-born executive of the State. 1903 — July 4th: Thirty people were injured by the premature explosion of fireworks at Oregon, Dane County. May 5th: Chief Justice Orsamus Cole died. 1904 — June 5-9: The State University celebrated its golden jubilee (fiftieth anniversary of the first graduation). Charles R. Van Hise, the first alumnus to hold the office, was inaugurated president. February 27th : A large part of the State capitol at Madison was burned. 1907 — Legislative appropriations were made for a new capitol to cost $6,000,000. November 29th: Death of Judge Elisha W. Keyes, one of the foremost republican leaders of Wisconsin. 1908— August 27th: Death of William F. Vilas, former United States senator and postmaster general. 1909 — June 22nd : A statue of Lincoln in bronze was unveiled at the State University. The United States established a forest-products laboratory at the University. January 18th: Death of S. L. Sheldon, of Madison. 1911 — June 1st : Memorial to Judge Luther S. Dixon unveiled at Madison. 1913 — October 22nd: Death of Reuben G. Thwaites, secretary and super- intendent of the State Historical Society for twenty-six years. 1920— July 14th: Death of John B. Winslow, chief justice of the State Supreme Court. 1922— February 21st: Robert G. Siebecker, chief justice of the State Su- preme Court, died. 1924 — October 1st: The Wisconsin State General Hospital opened for serv- ice at Madison. It was completed at a cost of nearly $1,500,000, and its dif- ferent buildings are in proximity to those scientific departments of State Uni- versity whose cooperation is important for the advancement of medical knowl- edge. Two hospital buildings already located on the site, a Student Infirmary and the Bradley Memorial Hospital designed for clinical research, were made part of the new hospital plant. There is a total capacity in the three hospitals of 425 beds. No institution founded in recent years is more worthy of praise- ful consideration than the Wisconsin General Hospital. 1925 — The Wisconsin Memorial Hospital for the care and treatment of dis- charged soldiers, sailors, nurses and marines, residents of the State who served in the late war against Germany and her allies, nears completion on a beau- tifully wooded site overlooking Lake Mendota. It is operated by the Psychiatric Institute, which was founded by Dr. Charles Gorst, at that time superintendent of the State Hospital at Mendota. The Legislature authorized the erection of the Memorial Hospital in 1921. The Institute has always worked in close cooperation with the laboratories of the State University. 444 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE CITY OF MADISON There is no more beautifully located State capital in the West, or the coun- try at large, than Madison, with its wide and clean streets swept by the breezes of its bright inland lakes. The University buildings, the capitol structures, the churches and schools, all have their stately settings, provided primarily by the natural beauties of the country and improved by the taste and wealth of a cultured and prosperous people. It is easy to realize scholarship and the statesmanship of a virile people, for which "Wisconsin has stood so long, should here find a peaceful and inspiring center in which to study and evolve the problems of the day. Not only in this chapter, but scattered through many other pages of this work, are proofs that Wisconsin and Madison, the center of much of its culture and progressive politics, are noteworthy influences in molding the American spirit and performance. This charming city of forty thousand men, women and children, is little smirched by manufactories, but whether its residents are permanent or tempo- rary they are generally substantial in character and means. Its thorough- fares, its residences, its hotels and its handsome stores all show it. The twelve banks operating in Madison, two of which have been established for more than seventy years, keep the local money in circulation and prove that the city is substantial, as well as beautiful. They have a combined capital of $2,675,000, a surplus of over $1,000,000 and deposits amounting to $23,000,000. STOUGHTON AND OUTSIDE VILLAGES Stoughton, in the southeastern part of the county, on the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul line, has a population of more than 5,000 and is the onV industrial center of any consequence. It was incorporated as a village in 1868 and as a city in 1882. About midway in this period, 1877, its first ban.; was founded, the State ; followed in 1899 by the First National, and in 1906, by the Citizens National. Their reports indicate that they are in good con- dition. Their combined capital is $125,000, while their surplus is $258,000 and deposits, $1,779,940. Stoughton has also a well established newspaper, the Courier Hub, which was founded in 1863. The largest of the villages in Dane County are Mount Horeb and Sun Prairie. The former has a population of about 1,300 and is a station on the Chicago & North-Western in the southwestern part of the county. Mount Horeb is a good trading center and has two banks and three newspapers. The Times was founded in 1892. There are also the Mail and Parish Doings. Mount Horeb was incorporated as a village in 1899. Sun Prairie, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line, is slightly smaller than Mount Horeb, although it was incorporated as a village in 1868. Its newspaper, the Countryman, has been published since 1877. The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Sun Prairie was established in 1893. As a rule, the measure of prominence among the minor villages of any county is by the newspaper and bank rule; if both exist, the community is considered slightly in advance of the village which has either one or the other. Thus gauged, the following are listed : Oregon, with a population of 870, has a THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 445 newspaper, the Observer, established in 1880. Middleton has a population of 7!»o, according to the last census; it has a newspaper, the 'rimes-Herald, but no hank. Mazomanie, somewhat smaller in population, is credited with both a bank and a newspaper; the Latter, the Sickle, has been published since 1874. As an incorporated village, Oregon is the oldest of the three mentioned in this para- graph. It was incorporated in 1883, Mazomanie in 1899, and .Middleton in 1905. Even smaller than the foregoing" are Waunakee, with its Tribune founded in 1911, and two State banks, one established in 1902 and the other, in 1912; Belleville, also with two State banks, both opened in 1903; Decrfield, which issues the Xews (established in 1899) and operates two banks, the Bank of Deerfield being founded in 1SS7 ; McFarland, with a State bank; De Forest, having both the Times (founded in 1895) and two banks; Black Earth, Dane and Blue .Mounds, all with banks, and Morrisonville, perhaps the smallest village of this group, with its independent bank and its newspaper, the Tribune, issued since 1903. Morrisonville is the only settlement of the foregoing which has not been incorporated as a village. Black Earth, the oldest, was incorporated in 1857, and still has a population not to exceed 500. McFarland, the youngest, was incor- porated in 1920. Waunakee, Belleville and Deerfield became villages in the '90s, and Blue Mounds, in the old lead region, in 1912. DANE COUNTY, AGRICULTURALLY CONSIDERED Until one '"knows," the general impression is that the beautiful city of Madi- son, with several flourishing villages, is about all there is to Dane County. But the census figures tell quite another tale and explain the founding and continued support of numerous rural centers, with their banks and newspapers. There are few counties in the Middle West with a richer country backing its smaller centers of population than Dane. Of the dozen prosperous counties in the Rock River Valley of Wisconsin and Illinois, Dane stands first in the total value of its agricultural property — land, buildings, implements and live stock; the Census Bureau indicates the assess- ment in this regard to be $128,789,000. Dane is also the star county in the rais- ing of cereals, the value of which is placed at $20,978,000. In live stock, the county leads in the raising of horses and dairy cattle. The census figures show that the 27,000 horses accredited to Dane were valued at nearly $2,500,000, and that the 108,000 dairy cattle were assessed at $8,434,000. Naturally, the hay and fodder crops of the county were enormous. In the census year, they were valued at $6,852,000, and its nearest competitor in the Rock River Valley, Dodge County, was more than $1,000,000 short of these figures. CHAPTER XIX DODGE COUNTY, WISCONSIN DODGE COUNTY CREATED AND ORGANIZED BEAVER DAM HORICON — JUNEAU AND OTHER POINTS DODGE COUNTY AS A WHOLE. The head rivulets of the Fox River, some of which in high water flow over the borders of Fond du Lac and Washington counties, are collected into the low- lands around Horicon, Dodge County, and form a natural marsh, which, for many years has been a source of contention between those who wish to retain the country as the Indians used it and the first white settlers found it, and those who would drain its 40,000 acres for farming and other utilitarian purposes. It is a contest between the older elements of the populace and the enthusiastic sportsmen of today and the practical men of money and money-making outlook. Even before Dodge County was organized as an independent civil and political division, Rock River was declared a navigable stream to the north boundary of the county, the limits of which had already been defined. By act of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature approved December 7, 1836, Dodge County was erected and attached to Milwaukee County for judicial and other purposes. A separate organization was not effected until January, 1840, when the county commissioners met at Fox Lake, the village founded several years before on the north shore of the lake by that name. Watertown or John- son's Rapids, had been settled about the same time. On January 13th, of the year named two polling places were opened to decide the question as to the permanent location of the seat of justice for Dodge County ; one was at Fox Lake, the other in the Fifth ward of Watertown. Fox Lake was beaten by seven votes, but afterward regained the honor. But there was a strong demand for a seat of justice nearer the geographical center of the county. In 1845, therefore, Fairfield was platted at that point, a few miles west of the Rock River. In 1848, it was rechristened Dodge Center, and later, Juneau — the latter name given in honor of Solomon Juneau, one of the founders of Milwaukee. Beaver Dam and Horicon have maintained the lead among the cities of Dodge County ; for Watertown lies more in Jefferson County than in Dodge. Beaver Dam is situated advantageously on the southeast shores of Fox Lake and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. By the early '50s, woolen mills, agri- cultural implement works and other manufactories were in operation, and the city is more industrial than otherwise today. It was incorporated as a city in 1856 and the last national census gives its population as 7,992. Beaver Dam has the honor of receiving the first missionary known to have preached in Dodge County — the Presbyterian, Rev. Moses Ordway, who on his way to Green Bay, in 1840, stopped at the little settlement on Fox Lake and commenced his labors 446 COURT HOUSE AND GROUNDS, JUNE AT *{ i if $ ■ 'lit i*i i i £ 1 iTi ■**: — '"— «=>' Mil ! T . , . .,-«■'' : Z^—L -./■ - • . ■••'.•. -,. - = -.-■ -..;.>:>■ ; • DODGE COUNTY HOME, .JUNEAU 448 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY there. The First Presbyterian church there was organized about the time of Deacon Ordway's death, a few years afterward. In the middle '40s, the Meth- odists and Episcopalians organized societies in Beaver Dam, and in 1848 the "Weekly Badger appeared as the local newspaper champion and democratic advocate, although the press work and a portion of the typesetting were done by the Watertown Chronicle. The Dodge County Citizen of today was the result of the consolidation of several ventures which was effected April 18, 1856. The Beaver Dam Argus (still published) was founded in 1860. The city has four substantial banks. The first to be established, which is still operating, is known as the Old National Bank, founded in 1864. Beaver Dam schools had their origin more than eighty years ago, when a few citizens of the place met at the house of J. P. Brower and selected a site for a building east of his house and about twenty rods east of Spring Creek. The schoolhouse was actually commenced in March, 1845, and finished in the following October. In 1845, the pioneers of the Horicon region threw a dam across the Rock River at the settlement, and the back-up waters formed beautiful Lake Horicon. The flooded grounds created what has been pronounced the largest artificial lake in the world, and thousands of fishermen and trappers resorted to it for pleas- ure and profit, both in summer and winter. All kinds of game and such fish as pickerel and pike were caught in immense quantities and shipped to the eastern markets, which, besides the factories which were established, made Horicon one of the most prosperous points in the upper Valley for many years. Then, in the late '60s the dam was removed and Winnebago Marsh, later known as Hori- con marsh, replaced the Lake, and more than twenty years ago various drainag projects were engineered in the face of counter efforts to reconstruct the dam and recreate Horicon Lake. Before the Civil war, the seeder factories had been established at Horicon ; they afterward developed into the Van Brunt and Deere plants, still among the large industries of the Valley. Two good banks operate in the city — a National and a State — the latter having been in business since 1896. The local newspaper, the Horicon Reporter, has been issued since L Horicon was incorporated as a village in 1855 and as a city in 1897. It is at the junction of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Chicago & North-West - ern Railroads. Juneau, at the geographical center of the county and its seat of justice for nearly eighty years, is a pretty little place of 1,200 people on the Chicago & North Western line. It was incorporated as a village in 1865 and as a city in 1887. Its newspaper, the Juneau Independent, was first issued in 1893, and its bank, the Citizens, has been operating since 1891. Waupun, a city of nearly 4,500 people, is the seat of the State Prison, which was located there in 1851. The original building, the south wing, was opened about two years afterward. Only a small portion of the city is in Dodge County and it has always been considered a municipality of Fond du Lac County. Its incorporation as a village dates from 1857 and as a city, from 1878. Mayville, in the northeastern part of the county on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, has an extensive and rich district tributary to it. With a population of more than 3,000, it supports two newspapers — the Dodge County Pioneer, founded in 1876, and the Mayville News, established in 1892. As an indication of brisk local business and large regional trade, the city has two banks JOHN MAY Founder of Mayville ALVIN FOSTER Pioneer settler of Mayville MAYVILLE IIKill SCHOOL 450 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY in operation. The Ruedebuseh Mutual Savings Bank was opened in 1892, and the First National has been doing business since 1914. Mayville was incorporated as a city in 1885, having previously been under a village form of government since 1867. Fox Lake, although it is neither a village nor a city, has a population of over 1,000, and has had its newspaper, the Representative, since 1866. It has railroad connection through a spur which extends to Fox Lake Junction on the main St. Paul line, a short distance to the south. Randolph, of about the same size as Fox Lake, is a station on the Chicago & North Western also in the northwestern part of Dodge County near the Columbia County line. It has a newspaper, the Advance, founded in 1893, but no bank. Other stations which may be mentioned are Lomira, whose newspaper (the Review) and bank (State) have been in operation since 1903; Reeseville, with its newspaper (also the Review) started in 1889 and Peoples State Bank, estab- lished in 1911 ; and Hustisford, Neosho and Iron Ridge, even smaller in size, but having banking accommodations to attend to the rural trade of their districts. DODGE COUNTY AS A WHOLE Dodge County is one of the richest sections of the Rock River Valley, either in Wisconsin or Illinois, and its residents base this claim on its remarkable prominence as a producer of crops and live stock. With its area of 897 square miles and its population of 49,742, it is rivaled only by Dane County in the essentials of agricultural leadership. Dodge County is second to Dane in the value of its live stock and agricultural implements, the showing being as fol- lows : Live Stock— Dane County, $14,316,000, and Dodge County, $11,801,000. Agricultural implements— Dane County, $6,826,000; Dodge County, $6,057,000. In the total value of all agricultural property, including land, buildings, imple- ments and live stock, Dodge County stands fourth among the twelve counties included in the Rock River Valley of this history. The value of all the cereal crops raised in the county is $14,331,000 and these figures place it fourth in this regard. Its crop of oats, 3,183,000 bushels, was the largest in the Valley ; its hay and fodder crops, valued at $5,706,000, were exceeded only by those of Dane, which realized about $1,000,000 more from these sources of wealth. There is even a closer rivalry between Dodge and Dane counties in the item of dairy cattle. In Dane, there were 108,667 cattle valued at $8,434,000, as compared with 93.367 and $8,317,000, respectively, in Dodge County. BEAVEE DAM, 1888 arnes whose name is given one of the main dormitories of the college, is vice-president. Norman E. Catlin is secretary, and Mrs. H. Stanton Burpee is treasurer. The executive committee consists of Mr. Lathrop, President Mad- dox, Mrs. McCulloch, Mrs. Burpee, Mr. Stevens and Mr. Barnes. Mrs. Cath- arine Waugh McCulloch has taken the leadership in providing the Jane Addams Social Sen-ice Endowment, Mrs. Burpee acts as secretary of investments, and .M-'ssrs. Barnes and Stevens assist in questions of physical property, etc. Upon the executive committee meeting each month devolves the actual work of ad- ministration and the solution of all problems of finance and policy. The Roll of the Alumnae : Thus does Rockford College endeavor to train the minds and enlarge the interests and sympathies of its students. Its alumnae have carried its ideals into every field in which women are interested. The roll of distinguished women among its graduates and former students is an impressive one. It is significant of the early work of the Seminary that the two names of Jane Addams of the class of '81 and Julia Lathrop, 1875-1877, sometime trustee, daughter of a member of the first graduating class of the Seminary, should be selected by the National League of "Women Voters as representative of their class among the twelve most distinguished women of the United States. The college has conferred the degrees of A. M., or honorary degrees of A. M.. on four of its alumnae: on Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch, whose distinguished career in her profession of the law has not prevented untiring service to her Alma Mater; on Mrs. Charles E. Herrick of Chicago, long a trustee and recently occupying high office in the D. A. R. ; on Mrs. Seely Perry, a leader in Rockford 's club life for many years; and on the late Mrs. Wm. A. Talcott of Rockford, for sixty years a devoted friend of the college whose interest and effort justify title of "mother" to generations of students. The lives of these women and of many others, such as Caroline Potter Brazee, '55, Carmelite Brewer Christie, '71, Corinne Williams Douglas, '80, Ella Brown- ing Tucker, '81, Anna Nicholes, '86, Blanche Walker Burpee, '95, Jessie Bin- ford, '00, Lorena M. Church, '05, Helen Douglas, '15, challenge the younger l-v nerat ion to go out in their spirit and labor in the making of a happier and better world. For about fifteen years after the Civil war, Rockford was more or less at a standstill. Only a few incidents are found worthy of special mention in the period from 1865 to 1880. COURTHOUSE COMPLETED Changes naturally were made in the downtown district of interest to the antiquarian. The fall of the courthouse, .May 11, 1877, merits notice by the 508 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY historian. In 1875, the board of supervisors determined upon the erection of a new courthouse. Its corner stone was laid June 23, 1875, and consider- able progress made in the erection of the building when, on May 11, 1877, "all but a portion of the front pediment of the main central tower or dome fell straight through the middle of the building, crushing, in its descent, much of the inside work of the structure. Seven men were killed outright and several others were severely injured, two of whom died before the jury completed its inquest." Work being resumed immediately on the building, the courthouse was com- pleted in 1878, the dedicatory services being held on October 14th of that year. chronology 1881 — 1925 With the decade beginning in 1881 Rockford changes from the staid old New England type to the "New City." Prom this decade dates the rise of many enterprises, contributing much to the founding of the Rockford of today. The telephone service is extended and the electric and street car service is begun. The three largest railroad systems enter the city. The opera house is built; the public school system remodeled; the water works service, by a system of artesian wells, founded. The following chronological sketch, however incomplete, will enable the reader to feel somewhat the growth of the city. 1881 — The Excelsior Furniture Company, and Rockford Knitting and Hosiery Company, established. Prolonged storm beginning February 26, 1881, continuing for a week with much snow. March 4th, the inaugural day of President James A. Garfield. Memorial services for President Garfield, Sep- tember 26, with addresses by several citizens. 1882— Growth of "North Town"; Celebration, August 25th, of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Rockford with an historical address by former Mayor Edward H. Baker. 1884 — Superintendent P. R. Walker arrives to begin his long superintend- ency of the schools. 1887 — Furniture company organized. 1888 — E. E. Keeler and R. K. Welsh, attorneys, arrive. Rockford Morn- ing Star begins its long service as a newspaper. The I. Shoudy Manufac- turing Company, established. 1889 — The B. A. Knight and the Skandia Furniture Company, founded. Effective evangelistic campaign of Dwight L. Moody. 1890 — Andrews Wire and Iron Works ai present location. Rockford Lum- ber and Fuel Company. Fred E. Stirling arrives in Rockford. Rockford City Railway Company organized. 1891 — Rockford Register-Gazette newspaper. The first pleasure park, Har- lem Park, owned by the Rockford Railroad Company. Evangelical meetings of B. Fay Mills. 1892 — Brown Building of six stories in height completed. University Ex- tension Lectures of Chicago University begun. Hotel Nelson completed. 1893 — Rockford seriously affected by the financial stringency of the na- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 509 tiojial panic of that year. Manufacturing almost completely paralyzed there- after for several years. 1895 — Death of A. C. Burpee who came to Rockford in 1856. Plis son, Harry P. Burpee, succeeds him in the bank. Fall of J. R. Porter from window of store, with death resulting. 1899 — Rockford Drilling Machine Company founded. Death of Worcester A. Dickerman, a settler in Rockford of 1844, at Anthony Hospital. 1900 — Death of William A. Talcott in Jerusalem, Palestine, while on trip around the world. Schumann Piano Company. 1901 — Haddorff Piano Company. G. A. R. Memorial Hall completed. 1902 — Rockford Chatauqua Assembly held with attendance at the high- water mark the following year. 1905 — New City Hall. Orthodox Jewish Synagogue built. Emerson-Brant- ingham Company. 1909 — Rockford Chamber of Commerce organized. 1910 — Rockford population, 45,401. Foreign born: Swedish, 8,916 and 7,265 of second generation, making 16,181 total Swedish population; 1,067 Italians; and 266 Scotch. 1911 — Rockford Drop Forge Company founded. Hotel Leland and Hotel Illinois built. 1912 — Million gallon water reservoir built. L. W. Thompson chosen play- ground director. Recreation idea in factories spreading. H. C. Wickwire Company established. Appointment by President Taft of Miss Julia C Lath- rop of Roekford to be chief of newly created Children's Bureau at Washington. 1915— Bank clearings $48,928,952. 1916 — Swedish-American Hospital started July 14. 1917 — Camp Grant established. Citizens raise $80,000 to secure location of government training camp. Work begun June 27th. Camp dedicated Sep- tember 4th. Soon home for 30,000 boys established. Many Rockford and Winnebago County boys went with national guards and other units to southern training camps. September: Winnebago County and Rockford drafted men enter Camp Grant. Bank clearings $83,845,620. Rockford Fibre Containing Company merged with Box Board Company. 1918 — City taxed to care for influx of families who moved to Rockford to be with men at Camp Grant before they were sent to France. Citizens con- tribute liberally to aid war. Factories placed at command of government. Men and women organizations of all kinds in war work. More than 50,000 troops at Camp Grant. Soldiers in uniform fill the streets. Visits of war officials of note, national and foreign. Reviews and demonstrations kept in- terest in the success of the war at fever heat. Rockford City Plan adopted. Swedish-American Hospital opened July 14th. 1919 — Demobilization of troops at Camp Grant. Kept city filled for some time with soldiers and their families. Bank clearings $110,280,000. 1920 — Population 65,651. Rockford business and industries weathered the beginning of deflation. 1922— Bank clearings $107,870,661. 1923— Bank clearings $116,245,965. 510 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 1924— Made in Rockford Products amount to $125,000,000 in value. Roose- velt Junior High School completed. Rockford Civic Pageant. 1925 — Rockford with 214 miles of streets laid out, 138 miles of which are improved. Abraham Lincoln Junior High School contracted. Estimated popu- lation 83,406. Three hospitals with 335 bed capacity, two sanitariums, a mu- nicipal sanitarium with bed capacity of 67. Twenty hotels. Two theatres and eight picture houses. Bank deposits $28,910,376.80. MANUFACTURING GROWTH OF ROCKFORD The initial impetus to the growth of Rockford into the second industrial city of the State of Illinois was given in 1853 with the arrival of John H. Manny, the inventor. In 1854, Wait and Sylvester Talcott became associated with him under the name of J. H. Manny & Company. With the addition of Jesse Blinn and Ralph Emerson to the firm in the fall of the same year, the firm name became simply Manny & Company. Establishing, the next year, a reputation abroad for the Manny reaper, the inventor secured twenty-three additional patents on new devices for the improvement of his invention. In the fall of 1855, Cyrus H. McCormick of Chicago began suit against the Manny Company, claiming infringement on his patents. This case achieved national renown not only for the questions involved, but also, for the national reputation of the attorneys who became engaged in its trial. Among the lawyers employed were Reverdy Johnson of Baltimore, Edwin M. Stanton of Pittsburgh, and Abraham Lincoln of Springfield, Illinois. The case came up in 1857 for trial before Judge McLean at Cincinnati, in the United States Circuit Court. Johnson was the counsel for McCormick, while Lincoln was employed to defend Manny. Lincoln, ambitious to measure swords with the then famous Johnson, had prepared himself with the greatest care. Upon reaching Cincinnati Lincoln was surprised and annoyed to learn that Edwin M. Stanton, as well as a Cincinnati laAvyer, had been associated with him. When the time for the trial approached, the counsel for defense met each morning for consultation. One morning, one of the counsel moved that only two of them should speak in the case. As it had been understood from the first that Mr. Harding was to explain the mechanism of the reapers, the ac- quiescence in the proposal for only two to speak during the trial left the choice to be made between Lincoln and Stanton. It is "the custom of the bar, as between counsel of equal standing, and in the absence of any action of the client, for the original counsel to speak." This rule gave Lincoln the precedence. Stanton, it is reported, suggested that Lincoln speak. Lincoln, with natural modesty, answered: "No, you speak," expecting all the time that Stanton would refuse. Stanton, however, replied: "I will" and, taking up his hat said that he would go and make preparations. While acquiescing, Lincoln never recovered from his personal grief and mortification; and, depressed and melancholy, remained to the close of the trial without exhibiting much interest in the case. He felt then and afterwards that Stanton had not only been discourteous to him but had purposely ignored him in the case, treating him rudely and unkindly. Stanton is reported as having described Lincoln as "a long, lank creature THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 511 from Illinois, wearing a dirty Linen duster Eor a coat, on the back of which the perspiration has splotched wide stains thai resembled a map of the con- tinent." Despite this hurt received from the arrogant Stanton, Lincoln, six years later as President of the United States, searching for a capable Secretary of War. appointed Stanton for his force of character and ability. In doing so, Lincoln gave another evidence of his own moral greatness. In their as- sociations at Washington, in the eventful years of the Civil war, Stanton, after many a contest, acknowledged his previously decried rail splitter of Illinois to bo America's uncrowned Master of Men, himself included. Ida M. Tarbell in her "Life of Lincoln," quoting from Ralph Emerson of Rockford, one of the firm of the Manny Company, gives another note- worthy incident of this trial. "Mr. Stanton closed his speech in a flight of im- passioned eloquence. Then the court adjourned for the day and Mr. Lincoln invited me to take a long walk with him. For block after block he walked rapidly forward, not saying a word, evidently deeply dejected. At last he turned suddenly to me, exclaiming: 'Emerson, I'm going home.' A pause. 'I am going home to study law.' 'Why,' I exclaimed, 'Mr. Lincoln you stand at the head of the bar in Illinois now! AYhat are you talking about?' 'Ah, yes,' he said, 'I do occupy a good position there and I think I can get along with the ways things are done there now. But those college-trained men, who have devoted their whole lives to study, are coming West, don't you see? And they study their cases as we never do. They have gotten as far as Cin- cinnati now. They will soon be in Illinois.' Another long pause, then stop- ping and turning towards me, his countenance suddenly assuming that look of strong determination, which those who knew him best sometimes saw upon his face, he exclaimed: 'I am going home to study law! I am as good as any of them and when they get out to Illinois, I will be ready for them.' " Lincoln is reported to have visited Rockford once in connection with the case. It was a hot summer day that he sat with one of the clients on an old log on the bank of the river and discussed the trial. The company paid him $1,000, up to that time his largest fee. Upon the early death of Mr. Manny the inventor, in 1856, at the age of thirty, unconcious of the wealth his inventions were to bring to others, the firm was changed to Talcott, Emerson and Company. The next year, William A. Talcott, son of Wait Talcott, left his studies in Beloit College to join his father in the business; being admitted to the firm in 1860. Later the name was changed to Emerson & Talcott. In 1895, the name became reduced to that of the Emerson Manufacturing Company, which extended the manufacture of farm implements. It was then that Charles S. Brantingham, severing his connections with the Nelson Knitting Company, became the secretary and manager of the Emerson Manufacturing Company, having then a capitalization of only $200,000. By 1899, the capital became increased to $500,000 and then doubled in 1903. After different purchases of tracts of land and locations of the plant, a new location was secured, in 1905, on South Independence Avenue, which now comprises over two hundred acres. The EnierM.n-Brantingham Company was organized in October, 1909, with the capital increased to $3,000,000. The capital stock was enlarged to $.".().( 100,000 on July 17. 1912. with the plan per- 512 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY fected for including, under its ownership, several related plants from other cities. This accomplished, the Emerson-Brantingham Company became the largest manufacturing plant in the city. The new factories, along with the continued growth of manufacturing in Rockford, began the use of steam and, later, electric and gasoline power; so that now few of the present plants are run by water power. This has resulted in a wider dispersion of the factories over several sections of the city. So numerous have the diversified industries of Rockford become today, that mention can be made of only a few which laid the foundation of their re- spective manufactures in the city. In the leather industry, Hess and Hopkins Leather Company, taking its rise under another name in 1866 and organized in 1882, takes the precedence of all others. The plant covers over ten acres and employs more than five hundred men. The W. F. and John Barnes Company, founded in 1872, has become the leading company manufacturing iron and wood-working machinery. The "Barnes drills" and "Barnes lathes" have exclusive features which are much demanded in the domestic and foreign trade. The Eclipse Gas Stove Company is reported to be the largest gas stove plant in the United States. Taking its origin in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1855, it was brought to Rockford by George D. Roper who had secured all of the patents and rights of the company. Associating with himself in the newly organized company his father, Major George S. Roper, M. J. Green and "W. H. Goffrey, the business began a remarkable growth from 1901, which resulted by 1915 in the establishment of a plant capable of an output covering a wide range of appliances "from ranges suitable for the largest hotel to single burner hot plate, every part of which is made in its own factory." Knitting has become one of the greatest industries of Rockford. There are now five factories giving employment to over 2,000 operatives, with a normal output of over $5,000,000 annually. To John Nelson and William "W. Burson is given the credit for Rockford 's preeminence in this field. These men started out under the name of Burson and Nelson to perfect a knitting machine. Succeeding, patents were secured in 1868-70 and 1872-3 and, on July 23, 1870, the first sock was knit by an automatic machine in Rockford. These socks had, however, to be separated by hand as they came from the machine joined; and the toes had to be closed. Later other patents were per- fected which enabled the firm to turn out the "Rockford Seamless Socks," thus inaugurating, in the early '70s, the real beginning of what has become a great knitting industry. Other factories, each with its own specialty, have since been established — such as the Nelson Knitting Company in 1890; the Rockford Mitten and Hosiery Company in 1885 ; the Burson Knitting Company in 1892 ; the Forest City Knitting Company in 1870 ; the Burson Ziock and Brown Company in 1910. About 2,200 people are now employed in the knitting industry. The furniture industrj r has come now to outrank all others in the city from the standpoint of the number of factories and workers employed. There are now 38 furniture factories employing over 3,500 workers. The industry had its real origin in 1869 when Andrew E. Johnson began o o - o - - o - as 7 w o -. a o tsi - H • 8 c 2 \ ^^^^^^^HV * / iihW i ft *j »» *W< '•■ i ■usfl •" Jn ^^i ' 1 ' t*v3 •- L» |lcr H lutiHiiiiS I in I *» v * 'iX$ 0, and in April, 1839, it was inspected and accepted by the Commissioners' Court. The keys veere then turned over to II. C. Walker, who had become a merchant of Belvidere and the sheriff of the county. te—i "k>a 532 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY It was not until March, 1839, that the county commissioners ordered the courthouse to be built. Its body was to be of brick ; dimensions on the ground 40 by 30 feet; posts 25 feet long, with entry for stairs on each side of front door; hall five feet wide through lower story, with back door and two rooms on each side of the hall; the upper room to be arched overhead and arranged in a plain, neat and convenient manner for holding court. Contracts were let for the lumber, brick and stone (for the foundation) required, but so many delays occurred that the builders were not ready to commence work until August, 1840. When all was in readiness to lay the foundation walls of stone, it was found that the jail erected by Doty had been built on the site intended for the courthouse. The jail was therefore moved to a site selected for it. The work commenced in the fall of 1840 slowly progressed, and another serious delay occurred in February, 1842. At that time, the commissioners declared the bond of the contractor forfeited, who had assumed the responsibility of framing and finishing the outside of the Courthouse. A new contractor was therefore given that work and it was not until sometime in 1843, six years after the organization of the county, that the courthouse was ready for oc- cupancy. In the meantime, the mile-wide strip west of the limits of Boone County, which for several years had been a bone of contention between Winnebago and Boone, had been awarded to the latter by popular vote. The Legislature of 1842-43 passed an act to allow the settlers on the debatable strip to express their wish as to county affiliation. The situation is thus described by a local historian of fifty years ago: "None but those immediately interested as set- tlers were allowed to vote. The interest became warm. As a natural con- sequence, the people of Boone County favored the scheme. They could not vote, but they could talk, and their best talkers were set to work 'where they could do the most good'; and they worked earnestly. No others were more interested than the people of Belvidere. The eastern part of Winnebago County, the settlers on the strip excepted, opposed the scheme, for, if it pre- vailed, it would involve the establishment of their county seat in some doubt, and weaken their chances of securing the seat of justice at East Rockford. The people of the western part of Winnebago County favored the scheme, because, if successful, it would strengthen their chances for securing the county seat at West Rockford, or on the west side of Rock River." The legislative act to settle the matter as to the jurisdiction of the mile strip was approved February 28, 1843, and provided for holding an election at the house of Samuel Keith, at the village of Newburg, Winnebago County, on the 4th of May, 1843, to determine by action of the voters residing in the contested territory whether it should be attached to Boone or Winnebago County. Benjamin Hoyd, Samuel Keith and A. W. Canfield were appointed judges of election. The polls were open from 10 o'clock A. M. to 5 o'clock P. M., and the result of the voting was a declaration of 51 votes for annexation to Boone County and 44, against. The result was to cut away from Eastern Winne- bago County twenty-five valuable sections of land and add them to Boone County, and to throw the balance of power to West Rockford in the contest for the county seat being waged with East Rockford. THE BOCK RIVEB VALLEY 533 THE DEVELOPMENT Of BELVIDERE The lir^t real impetus given to the growth of Belvidere was caused by the building of the sawmill and gristmill by the Belvidere Company in t he year 1836. Nathaniel Crosby and Dr. John S. King were the leaders in the estab- lishment of these industries, which made the county seat such a lively and indispensable center for the settlers for miles around. Hut Belvidere did not have a monopoly of these early-day advantages; for while its sawmill was being built, Colonel Mahlon Savers had laid out his town of Newburg, about five miles below Belvidere, and was losing no time to complete a similar plant In June, 1836, when the State Road between Chicago and Belvidere was being located, there was a lively contest between the two towns as to which should be a station, or stopping place for the stages on the line. Belvidere, under the leadership of Simon P. Doty, won the fight and Newburg collapsed. The commissioners to locate that road were James Harrington and Mark Daniels of Kane County and John Phelps, the rival of John Dixon, of Ogle County. Claims along the line of the road at once rose in value, and claim hunters rushed out to meet the commissioners and make their selections. The road established, it became the great route between Chicago and Galena. The travel was so heavy that in the summer and fall, numerous four-horse coaches were used, and in the winter, four-horse sleighs. In December, 1836, a post office was established at Belvidere, the first on the northern section of the State Road. S. S. Whitman was appointed postmaster and held the office about six years. In the fall of 1836, Mr. Doty and Deacon Crosby had established the cor- ners of State and Mechanics streets with an old iron carpenter's square. State Street, which bore a little west of north, was named from the State Road which went through the town, and Mechanics Street was so called because the Bel- videre Company had resolved to donate building lots to mechanics who would improve and reside upon them. Doty himself commenced the building cam- paign in that section, and houses and business places followed. The location of the county seat at Belvidere and the coveted addition of the western sec- tions to the territory of Boone, with the final completion of the courthouse, increased the confidence of the little town, and drew to her many newcomers. Previous to the completion of the Galena division of the Chicago & North Western Railroad to Belvidere on its way to Rockford (in December, 1852) the growth of the town had been confined to the north side of the Kishwaukee, as contemplated when the county seat was located on the mound. When the line of the road was established, however, about half a mile south of the river, building commenced on that side, the result of which was to transfer the bulk of the business to the vicinity of the road, with the consequent following of residences, churches and schools. For thirty years from 1837, several bridges were built across the Kishwaukee River along State Street, the Trnesdell wrought-iron bridge being completed in the fall of 1867. The business and resident districts are now pretty evenly distributed between the different sec- tions of the city, divided by the river. For the decade after the erection of the first courthouse in Belvidere, the population of the town and the county showed a marked increase; the in- 534 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY crease of the county business demanded enlarged and improved official quarters. In 1853, arrangements were therefore made for tearing down the old structure and erecting a new one, which should include a substantial jail as well. In March, 1854, an order was issued to borrow $5,000 to aid in its construction. Finally, in May, 1854, the Board of Supervisors entered into a contract with John Higby to erect a courthouse and jail for $9,000, the material in the old courthouse being accepted in part payment. The building committee which finally superintended the building of the new courthouse consisted of Allen C. Fuller and L. M. Beebe. In September, 1855, they reported their task com- pleted and were thanked by the Board for their good work. CHANGE IN COUNTY ORGANIZATION Boone County continued to be under the jurisdiction of the Commissioners' Court from the date of its organization in 1837 until April, 1850, when the township organization system was put in force. After the ratification of the State constitution by the people on March 6, 1848, and until the township organization system should be submitted to popular vote on the first Monday in April, 1850, the management of county affairs was conducted by a county judge and two associates. In November, 1849, the first election of these tem- porary officials for Boone County resulted in the selection of Daniel H. Whitney for county judge, and Edward Hawley and Lucius Fuller, for associate justices. John Jackson was appointed clerk of the Count}" Court. Boone was among the first counties in the State to adopt township organization. Several other counties, particularly in the southern part of Illinois, rejected it. The first Board of Supervisors for Boone County was elected in April, 1850, and held the first meeting on June 11th following, in response to a notice issued to them by Judge Whitney. The members-elect were Frederick P. Low, Fairfield (now Flora) township; Nathaniel Crosby, Belvidere town- ship ; Henry Jenks, Caledonia township ; Charles W. Libby, Manchester town- ship; William Raymond, Leroy township; Hiram C. Miller, Boone township; Isaac Miller, Bonus township, and Charles B. Lord, Concord (now Spring) township. At that meeting, H. C. Miller, of Boone, was elected chairman pro tem., and Allen C. Fuller, county attorney. After the transaction of some unimportant business, the Board adjourned until November 11th, the time fixed by law for the regular meeting; then the full management of the county affairs was turned over to the new body. BELVIDERE UNDER CORPORATE FORM Belvidere was first incorporated under the general laws of the State in 1847, but only remained under such government about one year, when, the local government not proving satisfactory to the people they voted the cor- poration down. Until 1857, there was no town or village government, but about that time the citizens were granted a special charter. It was approved Feb- ruary 5, 1857, and the corporate name was the "Presidenl and Trustees of the Town of Belvidere." lis area was defined as all of section 26 and the west half of section 25, township 44, north of range 3 east, and all additions NATIONAL SEWING MACHINE COMPANY. BELVIDERE IIKill SCHOOL, BELVIDERE 536 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of lots, blocks and out-blocks to said town, which have been laid out and re- corded in the recorder's office of Boone County, provided that the Board of Trustees might not extend the limits of the corporation beyond two square miles of land. At the first election of trustees on the second Monday in March, 1857, the choice fell upon John K. Towner, Israel Tripp, D. W. Read, Cephas Gardner and Warren Pierce. Mr. Pierce was chosen president of the Board, Asher E. Jenner, clerk, Mark Ramsey, treasurer, and William Haywood, as- sessor. Belvidere remained under this form of government for nearly a quarter of a century, and in 1881 had reached such a stage of population and all- around development that it was incorporated by an act of the General As- sembly as a city. BELVIDERE OF THE PRESENT A thriving, clean little city of more than 8,000 people, lying on both sides of the Kishwaukee River, and divided longitudinally by State Street, Belvidere is one of the best residence places in the Rock River Valley. It is the center of a beautiful and fertile agricultural and dairy country and draws for its immediate support upon more than 130,000 acres of improved land. It is a gem city set in the midst of rolling, well drained lands, checkered with pros- perous-looking farms and flecked with herds of dairy cattle. Although the raising of sheep is relegated to the background of the live stock industries, the feeding of sheep which come from, the far West and are headed for the Chicago market is one of the specialties of Belvidere, and its yards are among the largest in the Middle West. The banks of the Kishwaukee are not only naturally beautiful, but have been utilized by the people of the city for purposes of pleasure and conven- ience of pedestrians and tourists. About eighty acres of ground have been laid out into pleasure grounds, and provided with tennis courts, wading pools and picnic conveniences. The township maintains also a fine outdoor bathing beach, known as Marshall beach, at which are diving and sliding devices, and a gate for controlling the water and making it possible to clean and refresh it. As Belvidere is on the Rainbow trail running from Chicago to Yellow- stone Park, its camp for tourists one mile from the down-town district is equipped, in the modern fashion, with good water, firewood for cooking and other domestic, conveniences. The Bel Mar Country Club also supports a golf club at the edge of the city. The Chicago & Northwestern Railway has fur- nished transportation for more than seventy years, with ever-increasing im- provements, and the city is right in the meshes of the interurban system which has made northern Illinois famous. Grant highway, one of the main arteries of travel leading out of Chicago also runs through Belvidere ; so there is no excuse for one living there to be isolated or even lonesome. The water supply, which is municipally owned, comes from artesian wells. The water is so pure that filtration or chemical treatment is unheard of in the city. Health records therefore show that the mortality of Belvidere is unusually low. Property, as well as the public health, is well protected, and since the paid Fire Department was organized its efficiency has kept pace with the times. It has been completely motorized for some time. THE BOCK RIVEB VALLEY 537 Belvidere has for some years gone far toward realizing the ambition of its founders to make it an industrial center. Flouring mills and wagon and carriage works, as well as plow factories, had the pioneer inning. The early mills of the Belvidere ( ompany were followed by the Baltie and Big Thunder (named alter the Indian chief) of 1845. The Longcor Plow Works were started a few years earlier, and in 1849 J. V. Wing founded his wagon and carriage factory, which was the progenitor of a long line of similar industries which sprung up in the middle and late '50s. Of late years, the manufactories which have found a foothold in Belvidere have met modern conditions of free com- munication with all parts of the country, and thorough means of communica- tion and distribution, with a consequent variation of articles placed on the market. The flouring mills have been abandoned in favor of the greater centers such as .Minneapolis and Chicago, while nourishing local industries have ap- peared based both on the natural products of the surrounding country and a demand for certain manufactured articles in more distant parts. Thus two targe plants are devoted to the manufacture of dairy products, ice cream and bottled beverages, one of them also making artificial ice. Another is devoted to the specialty of manufacturing milk bottle caps. The most important industry of recent years is that identified with the canning of beets, string beans, tomatoes, peas, carrots and to a minor extent, apples. There are three large plants of this kind — two on the south side of the river, and one on the north side. The oldest is that founded about 1880 by Otis Coleman. Great areas of land formerly cultivated to the cereals, the profitable market for which is so uncertain, are now turned over to the assured demand of the canneries. Judge Charles Fuller stated the matter at a late gathering of farmers in this strain: "There is a branch of agriculture grow- ing np that is tending to make farming much more profitable, and therefore more attractive; that is, the canning of fruits and vegetables. The men who cultivate the soil are learning that an acre of ground used to raise fruits and vegetables to be canned for winter consumption is much more profitable than the same ground used to raise farm products which are disposed of in the ordinary way." Judge Richard V. Carpenter adds that the canning industry is "the beginning of a new era in fanning; the adaptation of the old methods to the demands of the present age and the growing call of the great cities for luxuries of the table; the increase of profits by more scientific handling of output; the planting of lands formerly sown to corn and oats with the less plentiful and more sought for, vegetables and truck produce. It will solve in part, as .Judge Fuller says, the problem of how to keep the boys (and the girls) on the farm, and add materially to the prosperity of Boone County." By far the greatest industry of Belvidere is known as the National Sewing Machine Works which stretch along the Kishwaukee east of State Street. It is not too much to say thai Belvidere depends to a large extent upon this great concern, which is known throughout the country, for its substantial growth and present prosperity. Its products include sewing machines, screw machine products and washing machines, and when bicycles were more in vogue thou- sands of the "Eldredge wheels" were turned out of the plant of the company. The industry owes its standing largely to B. Eldredge and F. P. Eldredge. The Belvidere Screw and Machine Company also turns out screw machine prod- 538 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ucts, spark plugs and special machinery, and there are also industries de- voted to radios and auto accessories, furniture and other polishes, corsets (H. W. Gossard Company), artificial flowers, overalls, porcelain products and casket hardware. All of which enumeration bears out the statement already made — that Belvidere has a metropolitan range of manufactures. The four banks of Belvidere have total resources of more than $4,000,000, and since the First National Bank was organized in May, 1865, with Allen C. Fuller as president, none of her financial institutions has failed. As an- nounced by one of her citizens: "Belvidere never had a bank failure, a panic or a boom." The uplifting institutions of Belvidere have mainly been her schools and churches, and, in a minor degree, her public library, which is now founded on a Carnegie endowment. Since the founding of the Baptist church by Rev. John S. King in March, 1836, Belvidere has been considered one of the pioneers in the cause of Christ in the Rock River Valley, and there is no denomination, orthodox or liberal, which has not at some time been represented. Miss Har- riet King, daughter of Rev. Dr. King, was one of the first teachers to ply her calling in Belvidere. The Newton Academy, diagonally across from the south- east corner of the courthouse square, was built about 1837. It was the first distinctive school building in town. Dr. King was one of the trustees who controlled the property and Professor S. S. Whitman taught in the academy, which, in the fall of 1843, was diverted to other purposes. In 1854, a public school building of stone was erected in the public square and was the most pretentious educational institution in the country. Later the south side de- manded and obtained school privileges. Since then the public school system has expanded with the general growth of the city, so that it now embraces four modern graded schools and a high school, with substantial buildings and up-to-date arrangements. About sixty teachers are employed, including prin- cipals and supervisors. The value of the city school property approaches $500,000. The Public Library which has come to be regarded in every Amer- ican community as an institution necessary to its higher development, had its inception as early as 1851. The weak initial attempt was abandoned after four or five years, and it was not until twenty years later, in May, 1874, that a few cultured ladies got together some 120 books and formed the Belvidere Librarj- Society. This, also, was a subscription library, and in a few years had grown to a collection of 1,000 volumes. In 1885, Gen. A. C. Fuller gave $9,000 to the city to be expended in the purchase of books. The ordinance authorizing the library was approved in May of that year, and it was named Ida Public- Library in memory of General Fuller's deceased daughter. It was first in- stalled in the city hall over the post office and finally, through the use of the Carnegie library fund, obtained its own building. OUTSIDE OF BELVIDERE Capron and Poplar Grove are small villages or stations on the North Western Railroad, north of the central part of Boone County. The first settlers of that portion of the county came about 1837-38 and located at or near what is now Poplar Grove, which is divided by Boone and Caledonia townships. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 539 One of the 6rs1 settlers known by name was Bradford Dean, the first school teacher, and justice of the peace, who taught in Boone township and lived just over the line in Caledonia. The village of Poplar (irove, originally called Shermantown, was laid out by I. V. Sherman in 1859. The Madison branch of the Chicago & North Western line had been completed through the county six years before, and both ('apron and Poplar (irove were made stations on it. They have continued to develop as shipping points for grain and live stock and as centers lor quite an expanse of local trade, ('apron has rather out- grown Poplar (irove, its population being about (300 as compared with some 350 for the latter. Caledonia, a village of 300 people, is in the western part of the county and the early settlers of the township by that name commenced to locate in con- siderable numbers in 1838-39. During the latter year Caledonia precinct was set oft' from Beaver precinct. In 1843, a post office was established in what is now the southern part of Caledonia township, and David Drake, a pioneer of that locality, was appointed postmaster of Precinct post office, as it was called. Ten years later, when the Chicago & North Western line was completed the post office was moved to Caledonia station. Garden Prairie is a little village of two or three hundred people and a station on the Chicago & North Western, a few miles east of Belvidere on the south hank of the Kishwaukee River. It is surrounded by a good farming and dairy district and is a typical rural settlement. Although there were settlements in Bonus township as early as 1836, Garden Prairie is an out- growth of the Galena division of the railroad and was laid out by David H. Sackett, one of the first of the pioneers, about 1852. Thus, outside of Belvidere, even the evidences of village life are not note- worthy. The county, as a whole, is a characteristic section of the State which has laid the basis of the substantial prosperity of Illinois in the character of a contented, industrious and thrifty middle-class rooted in the fertile soil and its varied products. At the same time, Boone County has produced many able men, and their achievements may be traced in such chapters as those devoted to the politics and the bench and bar of Hock River Valley. CHAPTER XXIII STEPHENSON COUNTY THE GODFATHER OF STEPHENSON COUNTY FIRST SETTLERS PERMANENT SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS — THE PAPER TOWN OF RANSOMBERG THE REAL TOWN OF FREEPORT ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY ORIGINAL ELECTION PRECINCTS FREEPORT SELECTED AS THE COUNTY SEAT THE EPOCHAL YEAR, 1837 THOMAS J. TURNER TAXES AND WEALTH OF THE COUNTY IN 1838 IMPROVEMENTS CEN- TERING IN FREEPORT, 1838-40 — COMING OF THE NORWEGIANSi — ONECO AND ORANGEVILLE THE VILLAGE OF WINSLOW CEDARVILLE ANOTHER DEVELOP- MENTAL YEAR, 1850 — FREEPORT INCORPORATED AS A TOWN CHOLERA IN 1850-52 — THE VILLAGE OF LENA- — DAVIS AND DAKOTA ROCK CITY — RIDOTT VILLAGES OF LATER FOUNDING AND GROWTH FREEPORT 's GROWTH FOR FORTY YEARS HORATIO C. BURCHARD THE PANIC OF 1857 THE FREEPORT OF TODAY STEPHENSON COUNTY, AGRICULTURALLY CONSIDERED. Stephenson is one of the northern tier of Illinois counties and the second east of the Mississippi. It has a population of 37,743, and an area of 559 square miles, or 357,760 acres. Physically speaking, it lies outside the main valley of the Rock River, but is in the watershed of the Pecatonica and its trib- utaries, Yellow, Cedar and Richland creeks and smaller streams which furnish the county with excellent drainage. The Pecatonica River enters Stephenson County from Wisconsin about seven miles from its northwestern corner, flows southeastwardly to Freeport and thence east into Winnebago County, where it joins the Rock River at Rockton. The current of the Pecatonica is slow and its course very tortuous, so that the uncertain derivation of its Indian name has reasonably been accepted to mean either "muddy water" or "crooked stream." The Pecatonica and its chief tributary, Yellow Creek, are constantly depositing rich alluvial soil, which, with proper drainage, cannot be excelled for fertility. The river and the creek mentioned formed an east-and-west barrier against the prairie fires that formerly swept toward the north and destroyed miles of valuable timber. The consequence is tbat south of these water courses there is little woodland. Large groves of white oak and other valuable timber were swept away, never to be replaced. The principal varieties north of the Peca- jonica and Yellow Creek are hickory, black walnut, sugar maple, oak, butternut, elm and poplar. Although the general aspect of the land throughout the county is that of a rolling prairie, there are numerous roads in the country disti v icts that take one through beautiful groves, rich valleys and wooded hillsides. 540 E § 1 STEPHENSON COUNTY'S FIRST COURT HOUSE Completed in 1840 THE COURT HOUSE OF TODAY, FREEPORT 542 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE GODFATHER OP STEPHENSON COUNTY The county derives its name from Colonel Benjamin Stephenson, a Ken- tuckian, who became prominent in the early period of the Territory; was a colonel of the Illinois militia in the War of 1812, and afterward a congressional delegate and register of the land office at Edwardsville. His son, Captain James W. Stephenson was prominent in the Black Hawk war and throughout the Galena district in public life. For several years he was register of the land office at Galena, but his father, the Colonel, was of far more prominence. FIRST SETTLERS OF THE COUNTY Oliver W. Kellogg, a native of New York State, came to Burr Oak Grove, in the northwestern part of the county between the Pecatoniea and Yellow Creek, and in 1827 commenced to make a few improvements in that locality. It soon became known as Kellogg 's Grove, although the pioneer who gave his name to the locality remained in the Grove less than two years. He then was replaced by a wandering Frenchman, Lafayette, who occupied the Kellogg premises until the winter preceding the Black Hawk war. The Kellogg-Lafayette cabin was stand- ing and furnished a shelter for Major Dement and his rangers when they were so closely besieged by Black Hawk. It enabled him to hold out until reenforce- ments reached him and his threatened defeat was transformed into the victory of June, 1832, which broke the power of the wily and able Sauk warrior. Prior to the Black Hawk war, Stephenson County had been invaded by white men other than those mentioned; but their coming was even more indecisive than the short residence of Kellogg and Lafayette. In 1827 Colonel Henry Gratiot, the Winnebago Indian agent, is said to have ridden on horseback, with a single companion, through Stephenson County, by way of the Rock River ford, at what is now Dixon, and Kellogg 's Grove. He was riding from Peoria to Apple River, Galena. A man named Baker, a former resident of St. Louis and who worked for Colonel Gratiot in the lead mine region, is reported to have built a cabin at Buffalo Grove, in what is now Stephenson County, for the purpose of establishing a trading station there. He remained in his cabin less than a year, and it is probable that he left because of impending trouble witli the Indians. He was the first white to build a cabin in Stephenson County. He was an enter- prising Hoosier, who passed into the lead mine region of Jo Daviess Comity, afterward returned to Peoria, and in 1835, witli his son, built the first cabin on the site of Freeport. PERMANENT SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS But William Waddams, a native of New York State, came to the grove which bears his name in the fall of 1832 and soon after Black Hawk's defeat at the Bad Axe, Wisconsin, he staked out his claim. He had lived in Southern Indiana and in Peoria and Galena, Illinois, but evidently desired a more quiet and pleas- ant home than he could establish in the lead regions of Northwestern Illinois or Southwestern Wisconsin. In the spring of 1833 he therefore built a log cabin for his family and brought them to the Grove. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY :.»:; As Mr. Waddams thus founded the firsl permanent household in Stephenson County, a brief description of him and his surroundings is in place. His was the typical frontier log cabin. It was, in fact, hewed out of the forest. The trees were selected, cut down and shaped into logs, notched near the ends. The rafters and joints were eu1 and split out of the green saplings. The puncheon floor was of the usual order. The hoards were rived on the ground and the window frames were smoothed up by use of a jacknife. The great fireplace occupied almost all of one end of the house. Such a house could be built, as many of them were, with no other tools but an axe and an auger. A thatched roof log barn was quickly built and afforded protection for grain and stock. Mr. Waddams was a native of the State of New York and Mrs. Waddams of the Slate of Vermont. There were no schools in the first years of Mr. Waddams' life in Illinois but. being interested in the education of his children, he procured the services of a private teacher. He was forty-seven years old when he built the first permanent residence in this county on section 13, in West Point town- ship. He was a man of decided opinions and in polities was first a whig and then a republican. Mr. Waddams was the pilot who led the way for many a family into Stephenson County. Many a settler partook of his hospitality while on bis way to select a claim here. Frequently he hitched his team to the end of the new comer's wagon tongue and pulled him through mud holes or across the fords on the Pecatonica. He was for a long time justice of the peace and earned the title of Squire Waddams. One of his specialties as justice was mar- riages. Before Mr. Waddams brought his family to the Grove, a settlement had been started at Brewster's Perry on the Pecatonica, about a mile and a half south of the presenl village of Winslow. In 1834 George Payne stopped for some time near t lie ferry and in November of the same year William Robey and family settled in the vicinity of what is now Cedarville. About that time George W. Lott located in a cabin between Winslow and Oneeo, in the extreme northern pari of the county. It is claimed that a son was born in the Lott family during 1835; if line, this was the first white child born in Stephenson County. Others claim that Amanda Waddams, born at the Waddams home in February, 1836, was the first native child of the county. In 1835, .lames Timms and family came from Jo Daviess County and bought the old Kellogg site. He was a soldier of the Black Hawk war and during hos- tilities his family had been protected in the Apple River fort. Many settlers were added to the population of the county during that year, and in 1836 Thomas l.ott built a sawmill on the present site of the village of Winslow. Not long after, the village site and a large quantity of adjoining land were bought by a Boston company. THE PAPER TOWN OF RANSOMRERG While settlers were coming into the country with some misgivings, a bold real estate boomer named A. < '. Ransom unhesitatingly laid out his town about a mile and a half below Brewster's ferry. The resultant, Kansomberg, was the first town to be platted in Stephenson County the year, 1834. Its proprietor issued 544 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY charts and maps, showing regular, wide streets and beautiful parks, flaming with vari-colored foliage. Mr. Ransom built a store and is said to have sold a corner lot to a St. Louis gentleman for $500. That was the extent of the develop- ment of Ransomberg, whose projector disappeared in the wilds of Texas. THE REAL TOWN OF FREEPORT The Bakers, father and son, having built the first cabin on the site of Free- port, in December, 1835, prepared to bring Mrs. Baker to the place which they considered a favorable town site on the banks of the Pecatonica River. Assisted by Benjamin Goddard and George Whiteman, late arrivals, the head of the Baker family erected a hewn log home — an improvement on the first cabin. They both stood near the foot of Stephenson Street on the railroad grounds of today. In February, 1836, Mrs. Baker occupied the hewn log house and was joyfully installed as the first woman on the site of the town soon-to-be. "William Baker then made preparations to establish an Indian trading post and a hotel. A tribe of Winnebagoes was still in the community and the tavern would be convenient for travelers or those seeking locations in the neighborhood. But soon the idea of a new town came uppermost in Mr. Baker 's mind, and Wil- liam Kirkpatrick and W. T. Galbraith were similarly obsessed. The real estate firm of Baker, Kirkpatrick, Galbraith & Company was formed to promote the new town, which was laid out early in 1836 on the north part of the northeast portion of section 31. Previous to this platting, the settlement had been called Winneshiek, after the Winnebago chief by that name who had his village where the Illinois Central station now stands. It is not known who named the place Winneshiek, and it is not known as a certainty how the platted village came to be called Freeport. But the story accounting for the change is not a bad one ; so let it go for what it is worth. As related, William Baker had established a tavern on the river front. He was a hospitable gentleman by nature, and, as he was an enter- prising real estate man, perhaps as a matter of business policy, newcomers were given the glad hand in true frontier fashion and the latchstring was always out at Baker's. Many of these strangers were entertained by Baker without charge. This generosity levied heavily upon the stock of provisions at Baker's and kept the landlady hard at work. Mrs, Baker finally became annoyed and tired at her husband's reckless hospitality, and gave vent to her feelings one morning at breakfast, announcing that henceforth the place should be called "free port." The incident and the name spread rapidly — so runneth the tale. The progess of Freeport, even in its early career, was not to be without its stumbling blocks. When the Indians disposed of the title to their lands in this portion of the country, the government reserved to the half-breeds certain tracts of land which they might select in whatever part of the unoccupied territory they might choose, and frequently, through their own shrewdness or that of their advisers, these people made selections which turned out to be of considerable value or gave the occupants much trouble. As soon as it became known that Baker and his associates had laid out a town, one of these half-breeds, Mary Myott, through her agent, Nicholas Baldwin, located her claim on the section THE ROCK RIVEK VALLEY 545 which had been .selected for the site of Freeport, and the town builders moved their stakes farther west. ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY Thus was laid the foundation of Stephenson County, in the coming of sturdy pioneer from every section of the county. It is impossible to mention them a'l, but they came so rapidly in 1835-36 that there was a general demand for sep- aration from Jo Daviess County and a distinct political organization. In re- sponse to the strong public sentiment, the General Assembly in session at Van- dalia, passed an act on March 4, 18137, providing for the organization of Stephen- son, Boone and DeKalb counties. The measure relating to Stephenson reads as follows : "Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the Gen- eral Assembly, that all the tract of country within the following boundaries, to-vvit: Commencing on the northern boundary of the State, where the section line between sections 3 and 4, in town 20 north, range 5, east of the principa' meridian, strikes said line, and thence east on the northern boundary line of the State, to the range line between ranges 9 and 10 east, thence south on said range line to the northern boundary of Ogle County, thence west on the northern boundary of Ogle County to and passing the northeast corner of the county to the line between sections 33 and 34, in township 26 north, range 5 east, to the place of beginning shall form a county to be called Stephenson, as a tribute of respect to the late Colonel Benjamin Stephenson. "Section 2. An election shall be held at the house of William Baker, in said county, on the first Monday of May next, for one sheriff, one coroner, one recorder, one county surveyor, three county commissioners, and one clerk of the County Commissioners Court, who shall hold their offices till the next succeed- ing general elections, and until their successors are elected and qualified; which said election shall be conducted in all respects agreeable to the law regulating elections. Provided that the qualified electors present may elect from their own number three qualified voters to act as judges of said election, who shall appoint two qualified voters to act as clerks." Under the provisions of this act, the 121 voters who met at Mr. Baker's house on the first Monday in May selected as judges of election, Orleans Daggett, James W. Fowler and Thomas J. Turner, who, in turn, appointed Benjamin Goddard and John C. Wickham as clerks. The election passed off in a quiet and orderly fashion, as it was too early for the people to split into factions. Wil- liam Fitzpatrick was elected sheriff; Lorenzo Lee, coroner; Orestes II. Wright. commissioners' clerk and recorder; Lemuel W. Streator, Isaac S. Forbes and Julius Smith, commissioners; and Frederick I). Buckley, county surveyor. On the 8th of May, 1837, the County Commissioners' Court held its first meeting at the residence of 0. H. Wright, and the officials elected duly qualified. The county machine was fairly in motion, although its seat of justice had not yet been fixed. At this initial meeting, the County Court also laid out six election precincts and appointed three judges over each. The bounds of these precincts, with the judges of election, indicate the nature of this first subdivision of the county and its political preparation for local government. 546 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ORIGINAL ELECTION PRECINCTS Freeport precinct began at the southeast corner of Central precinct, south to the south line of the county, west to the east line of Waddams precinct, north to the south line of Central precinct and east to the place of beginning-. Seth Scott, A. 0. Preston and L. 0. Crocker were judges of election. Central precinct commenced at the northwest corner of Silver Creek precinct, south five miles, west 13 miles, north to the southwest corner of Brewster pre- cinct, thence east to the place of beginning. Ira Jones, Levi Lucas and Alpheus Goddard, judges. Brewster precinct commenced at the northwest corner of Rock Grove precinct, running south 6 miles, west 11 miles, north to the State line and east to the place of beginning. L. R. Hull, John M. Curtiss and N. E. Ransom, judges. Rock Grove precinct began at the northeast corner of the county and ran south 6 miles, west 9 miles, north to the State line and east to point of starting. J. R. Blackmore, Jonathan Cora and Eli Frankenberger, judges. Waddams precinct began at the northwest corner of Brewster precinct, south to the south line of the county, west on the county line to the west line of the county, north to the north line of the county, and east to the point of starting. William Waddams, Othmiel Preston and John Garner, judges. Silver Creek precinct commenced at the southeast corner of Rock Grove pre- cinct, south to the south line of the county, 7 miles west, north to the line of Rock Grove precinct, thence east to the place of beginning.. Horace Colborn, Nelson Salsburg and Philo Hammond, judges. At this first session of the County Commissioners Court, which seemed to have been packed with business, an ordinance was passed prohibiting inn keep- ers from charging more than 371/2 cents for a meal, 12y 2 cents for a night's lodg- ing and 25 cents for a measure of oats and the same price for a horse to "hay" over night. The newly elected sheriff, Kirkpatrick, was also called upon to do his duty while the first court was in session, for a man who had imbibed too freely started out to make a disturbance, and the sheriff locked him up in William Baker's root house until he could become normal in his actions. He was then released without fine or trial. A real jail and courthouse, which implied a county seat, were crying necessities. FREEPORT SELECTED AS THE COUNTY SEAT The General Assembly had appointed Vance L. Davidson, Isaac Chambers and Miner York to locate a seat of justice for Stephenson County and Cedar- ville, near the territorial center, and Freeport, quite a distance south of the center, were the chief contenders for the honor. Cedarville was not even a set- tlement, to say nothing of never having been platted as a town or village, while Freeport had been surveyed, and contained half a dozen houses, a store, a hotel, ;i trading post, a ferry and a saloon. The land company had laid out the town, offered to give $6,500 for the erection of county buildings, and, furthermore, besides donating the site for the buildings, held out the inducement of a lot to each of the commissioners. Many, including Rev. F. C. Winslow, claimed I THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 547 thai these various inducements prejudiced the commissioners in favor of Free- port; which may be true, as at the time, there was uothing to Cedarville except its location. Whatever the underlying considerations which determined the location, on the 12th of June, 1837, V. L. Davidson and [ssae Chambers made the following report: "We, the commissioners appointed by the Legis- lature of the State of Illinois to locale the county scat of Stephenson County in the State aforesaid, have located said seat of justice on the northwest Yl i f section 31 in township 27 north, range 8 east of the 4th principal meridian, now occupied and claimed by William Kirkpatrick & Co., William Baker and Smith Gilbraith." THE EPOCHAL YEAR, 1837 The county commissioners added to the epochal nature of the year 1837 by cunt raiting with Thomas J. Turner for the erection of a frame courthouse and log jail. The specifications laid down for the building of the jail, twenty by twenty-four feet in dimensions, indicate that it was to be constructed of hewn oak logs, with a stone foundation laid in "lime mortar." It was to be a two story structure, with two barred windows and a white oak stairway; door in the center of the gable, and a strongly protected trap door in the upper floor. For some reason. Air. Turner transferred his jail contract to Messrs. Truax & Hollenbeck, but contracted to build the frame courthouse in December, 1837, and completed it in 1840. Twice it was struck by lightning, and continually delayed because of the hard times and the heavy discount on county orders. When finally completed, however, it appears to have heen well built, for its served its purposes for thirty years. It was a two-story frame structure, and considered a model of its kind. .Mr. Turner was a millwright by trade and for some time before locating in Stephenson County had earned a livelihood by constructing bellows for the furnaces in the Galena lead mines. In May, 1836, he built a sawmill near Farwell's ferry on the Pecatonica near the mouth of Rock Run, and nearby, with Julius Smith and B. Thatcher, he erected a cabin home. Xot long before, while residing at Galena he had visited Freeport in search of supplies, and fortunately reached the Baker House shortly before its genial and generous head returned from Peoria with a goodly supply. As was customary, the Baker home and Freeport, as a whole, were thrown open to the hardy and attractive young man. That was his intro- duction to William Baker and wife, and probably one of the reasons why in 1837 he secured the contract for building the courthouse. Mr. Turner liked Freeport so well that he remained there, and his associate, Smith, directed the work of getting out the first timbers for the erecting of the courthouse in the winter of 1837-38. THOMAS J. TURNER If for no other reason than that Thomas J. Turner came to Freeport to live in 1837, that year would have been epochal. For considerable more than three decades he was her foremost citizen. Like Lincoln, he was self-educated. In 1840, he was admitted to the bar, being then twenty-five years of age, and Vol. 1—35 548 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY in the following year was elected probate judge of Stephenson County. Soon afterward, Governor Ford appointed him prosecuting attorney, in which ca- pacity he secured the conviction and punishment of the murderers of Colonel Davenport. In 1846 he was elected to Congress as a democrat, and in the following year founded the Prairie Democrat (afterward the Freeport Bulletin), the first newspaper published in the county. Elected to the Legislature in 1854, he was chosen speaker of the house and in the following year became the first mayor of Freeport. He was a member of the Peace Conference of 1861, and in May of that year was commissioned by Governor Yates colonel of the Fifteenth Illinois Volunteers, but resigned in 1862. Mr. Turner served as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70 and in 1871 was again elected to the Legislature, where he received the democratic caucus nomi- nation for United States senator against General Logan. In 1871 he moved to Chicago, and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the office of state's attorney. In February, 1874, he went to Hot Springs, Ark., for medical treat- ment, and died there on the following 3rd of April. In 1837, many other new arrivals of unusual worth strengthened the count}* 's settlements. Among these were Isaac Stoneman, Richard Earl, John A. Mc- Dowell, Major John Howe, Luther and Charles Hall, Chancellor Martin, Rich- ard Hunt, Abraham Johnson, William Stewart and L. W. Guiteau, who set- tled in Freeport. Quite a colony of Pennsylvania Dutch, led by Dr. Van Valsah, also settled on a claim near Cedarville purchased from John Goddard. Irish Grove in Rock Run township and Dublin in Erin township were prin- cipally settled in 1837 and 1842, although the pioneers of these Irish colonies, Bartholomew Doyle and Michael Murphy, came in 1835 and located in the range known as Dublin settlement. Doyle remained on his farm long enough to improve the land and donate three acres for the erection of St. Mary's Catholic Church, one of the first religious bodies to be organized in the county. In 1837, Nelson Martin opened a school in Freeport. William Waddams, Thomas Crain, James Timms and others had hired private teachers, but the Freeport institution was the pioneer school of any "standing" to be estab- lished in the county. At the same time that Mr. Martin opened his school, the county commissioners bought the lot which afterward became the site of the First Ward public school building. Damascus and McConnell, in Waddams township, were also products of the busy year, 1837. Norman Phillips, a settler of the previous year, founded Damascus. He became its postmaster and members of the family were the leaders in pushing the place into quite a settlement. Being situated on the Pecatonica River at one of the few points where the stream was crossed by a bridge, and being near the center of the county, it even put forth its claims to county-seat honors. In 1837, the town of McConnell was laid out by John Dennison, on land which he had purchased the year before, and in 1838 Robert McConnell ar- rived from Pennsylvania, purchased the land and improvements and called the settlement McConnell's Grove. He opened a store, bringing his goods from Galena, but the village did not grow to any extent until the Illinois Central secured its site, and made it a station on its Dodgeville branch which was built through the county in 1854. McConnell, the center of a rich dairy dis- THE ROCK BIVEB VALLEY 549 trict, is now a village of about 400 people, while Damascus, denied direct railway accommodations, is almost deserted. TAXES AND WEALTH OF THE COUNTY IN 1838 At the election for county officers held in 1838, L. 0. ('rocker, who opened the tirst store in Freeport, was elected assessor and Hubbard Graves, tax col- lector. All kinds of personal property were listed for taxation and assess- ments were made as high as the law allowed. A cheap watch cost its owner (>' | cents, and three of the wealthier men in the county paid $2 tax each on their watches. The rate was 45c on the $100, and Collector Graves turned into the county treasury $96 and some cents, which would make the entire assessed valuation $21,333. IMPROVEMENTS CENTERING IN PREEPORT, 1838-40 Iii the late '30s, the stage line was to Stephenson County and the western frontier what the railroad is today; and enterprising stations on it, like Free- port, drew both business and permanent settlers. So that in 1838, when Frink & Walker's stage line was opened from Chicago to Freeport, via Galena, two new hotels were opened in the village — the City Hotel, by H. G. Fads, and the .Mansion House, by Benjamin Goddard. In the judgment of that day, the latter a nine-room hostelry fully lived up to its name. The stage came to Preeport three times a week. The trip required two and a half days to complete it. and each of the ten passengers in the big stage paid $5. The stage driver of that day was in a class by himself. He was an engineer just as much as the man who holds the throttle over the Twentieth Century Lim- ited, lie was a marvelous expert in handling the reins, the whip and several brands of profanity. Slow as it was, the stage was an important factor in advertising and developing Stephenson County. It brought new settlers, was an express and carried the mail. It kept the permanent settlers in touch with the outside world, and served a limited purpose until the railroad came. After many trials and tribulations, the courthouse was in partial use. By legislative act of February, 1839, Stephenson County continued in the Sixth •Judicial Circuit, which also included Jo Daviess, Boone, Winnebago, White- side, Rock Island and Carroll counties. The first session of the court to be held in Stephenson County covered three days in August, 1839, and Daniel Stone was the presiding judge. The new law of February 23, 1841, abolished the office of circuit judge, appointed additional Supreme Court judges and rearranged the districts. Freeport and the entire county had a set-back in 1839 when both the vil- lage and many of the country districts were swept by bilious, intermittent and all Other kinds of fevers. It has gone down in county history as the "fever year." In 1840, Freeport contained about forty houses. The growth of the town was slow, largely because of a lark of surrounding country upon which to draw. The three local stores were those of O. II. Wright, L. W. Guiteau and I). A. Kuowlton. There were no banks. Farmers left their monev with merchants 550 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY who deposited in cities having safe deposits. Liquor was sold at three saloons and at all hotels except the Mansion House. Gambling was quite as general as drinking. Faro was dealt openly. Debauches and disorder were not in- frequent. The rougher element was augmented by many transients, who were going to, or coming from the lead mines. These men aided in giving the town a reputation for drinking, gambling and disorder, which it was slow to shake off. In those days, Freeport was not unlike the typical frontier town of the far West at a later period. In 1840, under the leadership of Rev. F. C. Winslow and John A. Clerk, there was a widespread protest against the continuance of this deplorable state of affairs. Meetings were held in the courthouse, schoolhouse and in private rooms, and even in the building where James Rock conducted the most notorious gambling place in town. COMING OF THE NORWEGIANS In October, 1839, occurred an event which is memorable in the history of Stephenson County and the Northwest. A delegation of Norwegians ar- rived at the settlement at Rock Run mills, and there formed what has been claimed to be the first distinctive settlement of those nationals in the United States; without doubt, it was one of the earliest. Among the Norwegians who settled then and there were C. Stabeck, whose descendants afterward be- came identified with the village of Davis; Ole Anderson, the progenitor of a line of good farmers in Rock Run township ; Canute Canuteson, who opened the first blacksmith shop in the township, and Civert Oleson and Ole Civert- son, who started the first wagon shop. In the following year, fresh arrivals were numerous at the various settlements, especially at the Norwegian colony at Rock Run mills and Irish Grove. ONECO AND ORANGEVILLE The tale of Oneco and Orangeville is oft-repeated in the history of Amer- ican communities. The great American stimulus, the railroad, left Oneco stranded and the place shriveled and died; while Orangeville which seemed to be headed for oblivion was stationed on its line and revived. The village sites are only about two miles apart. Oneco, somewhat the elder, was located on the old stage road to the lead regions, and Henry Cor with, in behalf of J. K. Brewster platted it in 1840. Additions were afterward laid out to the original plat. The first disappointment in the development of Oneco was that the water power furnished by Honey Creek was inconstant. At times the stream was swollen with floods, but during the greater portion of the year was valueless; therefore its first mill venture was a failure and thereby its future was discounted. In the pioneer period, a town without mills was hopeless. Orangeville, on the other hand, is located on Richland Creek, with its swift current, Avhich furnished constant water power for the people of that town, as well as for Scioto Mills and other points. The first settler on the site of Orangeville was John M. Curtis. Small saw and grist mills were soon after erected by him, and about 1845 John Bowers bought these improvements with HISTORIC BOULDER AT FREEPORT Murks site of famous Lincoln-Douglas debate of August 27, 18;18 552 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 320 acres of surrounding land. A year's residence on his new farm convinced Mr. Bowers that he had purchased a favorable town or village site. Although all around was virgin country, he secured the cooperation of Marcus Montelius, who surveyed and platted fifteen acres of his land into the village site of Bowersville. Its location and local advantages attracted settlers from the first. It was about the right distance from Freeport, the lots were very cheap and the water facilities good. As building material, such as lumber and shingles could not be obtained in the region, Mr. Bowers hauled it from Chicago in his own wagon when he had torn down the old Curtis mills and replaced the plant with a frame three-story structure. It was completed in 1850 at a cost of $8,000. The industry has come down to the present, with some interrup- tions, as the Orangeville Mills, but has been contracted, so that the gristmill is alone utilized. In 1867, the town was incorporated as the village of Orangeville and in 1888, when it became a station on the Madison branch of the Illinois Central Railroad its status as one of the most flourishing places in the county was fixed. Not many years ago, the original mill found an industrial associate in the steam plant which was placed in operation as a combined grist, saw and planing mill. The local creamery is another important industry. The Orangeville State Bank was established in 1909. The Orangeville Courier, which was established in 1884 by William H. McCall is also one of the local institutions which has always helped the town. It has a population of more than 400 people, with good schools and several large churches. The Lutherans and members of the Reformed Church united in 1851 to form the Salem Con- gregation of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, and in 1856 the Orange- ville circuit of the United Brethren Association was formed. The Methodists and the United Evangelical Society also include the village in their circuits. The first village schoolhouse was built before 1850 and stood on the present site of the Lutheran and Reformed church. In 1860, the school was graded and the Orangeville High School was founded in 1909. THE VILLAGE OF WINSLOW While Freeport was growing apace, other villages were just coming from the chrysalis. William Brewster was the first settler in Winslow township, in the northwestern part of the county, and in 1834 erected a comfortable house and established Brewster's ferry across the Pecatonica. He was a native of Vermont and most of the early settlers of the region were New Englanders. In 1838, there came from Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the first colonists of the Boston Western Land Company to develop the tract which had been selected and which included the site of the village of Winslow. W. S. Russell, the agent of the company, gave the township its name in honor of Massachusetts' provincial governor. The claims of the Boston Western Land Company cov- ered 700 acres in Winslow township, and it is said that at one time it owned 72,000 acres in Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri. In 1844, the company sent out an energetic agent named Cyrus Woodman, who, in that year surveyed and platted the village of AVinslow. He laid off an imposing city with public square, streets, avenues and wharf on the shores of the Pecatonica. Later, the THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 553 company decided to sell farms, instead of town Lots, and thus disposed of its holdings. The village was organized in 18f>0, and although it did nol realize the greal ambitions of its foundation year it developed into a fairly prosperous com- munity, which has hovered around the 400 mark in population for fifteen or twenty years. It has several substantial stores, two or three churches, a school; a State Bank, founded in 1915, and a newspaper (the Register), established in 1896. It is the last village of any importance in Stephenson County on the Illinois Central. I EDARVILLE After the platting of Winslow, in 1844, the next village of standing to emerge was Cedarville. which was laid out by George Ilgen in 1849. Several years before, Dr. Van Valzah, Levi Lucas and Josiah Clingman and his wife had settled on and near the site of the village, which was surveyed by Marcus Montelius for Mr. Ilgen. About 1850, James Canfield set up a brick kiln two miles west of the village, and a store and post office building were erected in town. But Cedarville, when it took on a little substance, never seemed to fully recover from her earlier disappointment of losing the county seat fight. Although at one time, a number of factories and mills were in operation, several events tended to cut around her substantial advance. The Illinois Central passed just far enough to the west to leave it out of its system. Steam power replaced water power, and several of its 'industries: moved to Freeport six miles south. Despite these drawbacks, Cedarville continued to grow slowly, her rep- resentative men and women, whether of the old days or the new T , being re- markably intelligent and earnest. It is a village of churches, four houses of worship having been erected — the Methodist, in 1849, the German Reformed and Lutheran in 1854, the Evangelical in 1859, and the Presbyterian, in 1876. Although schools were opened near the village as early as 1836 and 1846, within the limits of Cedarville the first school room seems to have been installed in the basement of the Lutheran church in 1853. In 1855, the village completed a two-story brick building both for educational purposes and as a public hall. Cedarville schools have always stood well, and its library dates from 1846. For many years, also, it has maintained one of the best bands in Northern Illinois. In a word, albeit that Cedarville has been denied some of the ad- vantages which ensure business and industrial growth, it is a model rural village for quiet and pleasant residence; and in population, even, is among the largest towns outside of the City of Freeport. The last census gives it a population of over 1,100. ANOTHER DEVELOPMENTAL YEAR, 1850 In various matters connected with the growth of the county, the year 1850 stands beside that of 1837. The most important event was the change in county government from the commissioner form to that of township or- ganization, conducted by a Board of Supervisors. The Constitutional Con- vention of 184S provided that the question of a change be submitted to the 554 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY voters of the county, and at the election of November 5, 1849, the result was 973 for township government and 99 against. In November of the following year (1850) the following were elected supervisors of the original townships: Lancaster township, Jonathan Reitzell; Rock Run, C. G. Edley; Rock Grove, James J. Rogers; Oneco, George Cadwell; Winslow, Cornelius Judson; Wad- dams, Michael Lawver ; Buck Eye, Marcus. Montelius ; West Point, Daniel Wil- son ; Harlem, William M. Buckley ; Erin, John I. F. Harmon ; Florence, Conrad Van Brocklin ; Ridott, Gustavus A. Farwell ; Silver Creek, Samuel McAffee ; Freeport, E. S. Hanchett, and Loran, Hiram Hart. In December following the election of 1850, the Freeport Journal, the sec- ond newspaper published in the county, gave the population of Stephenson by townships, as follows: Freeport, 1,436; Buck Eye, 1,271; Waddams, 1,160 Rock Run, 1,037; Erin, 886; Oneco, 882; Lancaster, 835; Rock Grove, 727 Loran, 654; Ridott, 652; Silver Creek, 603; Florence, 444; Harlem, 444 Winslow, 384; West Point, 250. Total for the county, 11,665. The four townships first named, it will be seen, had in 1850 nearly half the population of the entire county. They were not only rich, naturally, but had gathered considerable centers of population within their limits. Freeport was growing quite rapidly for those times ; Cedarville was in Buck Eye town- ship ; McConnell and Damascus in Waddams and the Germans, Irish, Nor- wegians and Yankees were flocking to the fertile lands of Rock Run township, and bringing its population well to the front. The census of 1850 showed of the 9,800 native-born inhabitants of Stephen- son County, Pennsylvania, furnished about one-third, Illinois nearly as large a proportion and New York about one-seventh. The foreign-born residents numbered less than 2,000. Germany led, with a trifle over 800, and Ireland furnished about half as many. The German contingent was materially in- creased by the settlement of a large colony in Ridott township, the members of which formed the little settlement of Baalton, long afterward the village of German Valley. FREEPORT INCORPORATED AS A TOWN It was in 1850, when Freeport had reached a population of nearly 1,500, that the citizens of the county seat asked that their old village organization be replaced by a town form of government. During the summer of that year Freeport was therefore incorporated as a town under the laws of the State of Illinois, and at the election held later in the year the following were elected trustees: Thomas J. Tuxmer, Julius Smith, John K. Brewster, John Rice and Joseph B. Smith. Rock Grove village, in the northern part of the county, was platted by Samuel Guyer in 1850, although settlers had been locating in the neighbor- hood for fifteen years. The place never made much progress, as Orangeville, a few miles to the west, got the start of it by several years, and has main- tained the lead. Rock Grove is a rural hamlet, without direct railroad con- nections, and is the center of a restricted trade, as well as the home of a number of retired farmers. Since 1920, it has enjoyed banking privileges through a State institution, and is no longer dependent upon Orangeville, on THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 555 the Illinois Ccnlral to the west, nor upon Rock City, on the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railroad to the southwest. CHOLERA IN 1850-52 The wave of prosperity, noticeable in so many ways through Stephenson County in 1850, was east back upon itself by an epidemic of Asiatic cholera which in 1850-52 swept over the southern districts. The people of Freeport and the settlements in Loran and Ridott townships suffered the most, and Kirkpatrick's Mills, or Mill Grove, and the village of Nevada, which had just been platted by the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company, were de- serted and wiped from the map of living villages. A traveler passing through the county at the time said that there was hardly a family on the old State Road in which one of its members was not stricken with the plague, dying or buried. Most of the cholera victims in Freeport were along the creek. Eighteen deaths occurred in one day there. The physicians throughout the infected area, as well as unprofessional men and women, took their lives in their hands, and labored night and day, as long as human endurance could sustain them, in their ministration to the suffering and terror-stricken. Among the more prominent of the physicians who gave their lives in this work were Dr. Chan- cellor Martin, Dr. L. A. Mease, Dr. F. J. Hazlet and Dr. Robert H. Van Valzah. Many years afterward, Mrs. A. Oscar Taylor, who passed alive through this terrible period of suffering and death, tells her story thus: "With a sense of security in the present, everyone was looking forward to a time of continued prosperity when suddenly, in 18f)0, across the sunshine of our hopes fell the black shadow of the terrible visitation of cholera, remembered still with a shudder by all who can look back to it. Like a thief in the night it came, st liking first in a house near the head of the creek and crossing the town. In a home where five were living the day before, in the morning all were dead except an infant. The woman who took this child died two clays later. A great horror settled over the community. The paralysis of fear added greatly to the danger from the disease, and an attack meant in most cases death. The physicians were almost as ignorant of the treatment of cholera as were the citizens. Xo nurses were to be had and the victims were depend- ent on friends and neighbors for care. When quaking with fear we were often called upon to minister to the dying, or to prepare the dead for burial. And we mothers. ;is we closed for the last time the eyes of some neighbor's child, thought, with sickening dread, of the morrow for our own little ones. Not often was there a funeral service. The dead were taken quickly to the cemetery by the old sexton, Giles Taylor. As far as business went, the w r eek days were like Sundays and country people were afraid to come near the in- fected town. When the shadow lifted with the end of summer, one-tenth of the population of Freeport had been taken away." Oil the hanks of Yellow Creek, in 18:5."), William Kirkpatrick established his home and erected a mill, which the community came to patronize. The only competitor of the industry were the Van Valzah mills at Cedarville. Other settlers built their cabins and brought their families to the vicinty 556 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of the Kirkpatriek mill, and Mill Grove arose and became quite a village by 1850. Both that year and in 1852, the people of the little hopeful settle- ment were attacked, terrified and almost obliterated by the epidemic. Mill Grove was abandoned and its name almost forgotten. Farther east and beyond Freeport, on the Pecatonica, the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad established a station, in 1852, and named it Nevada. It was thus christened because Daniel Wooton, who formerly owned the land on which the town was platted, had died in Nevada City, Colorado, en route to the California gold fields in 1849. But hardly had the Nevada of Ridott town- ship, Stephenson County, felt itself established than the cholera wave of 1852 swept away nearly half its people. The next visitation of 1854 was nearly as fatal and disconcerting. The site of Nevada seemed fated. No attempt was made to revive the town, and several years afterward the village of Ridott was founded a short distance east. Mill Grove, Nevada and other towns and settlements were abandoned be- cause of the ravages of the cholera in 1850 and 1852, and there was a notice- able decrease in the population of the county during those years. Emigrants went through or around the county and settled elsewhere. Many returned to the East and others who had prepared to locate in Stephenson County were deterred from making the venture. It was a hard blow to the county and checked its growth for some time. In 1854, the epidemic again appeared, but in a milder form and in the face of more efficient means for combating it, gained by sorrowful experience and thorough investigation and study. THE VILLAGE OF LENA Northwest of the central part of Stephenson County, on the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad, is the village of Lena. It is one of the largest and most enter- prising centers of population in the county, and is in the township of West Point. The latter is one of the original townships organized in 1850, and the first settlement of the county was made in 1833 at Waddams Grove a short distance northwest of the site of Lena. At the instigation of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad Company, Samuel F. Dodds laid off 100 acres for a village site and named it Lena. It was platted in 1854, when the line was built through the township and on toward Warren, Jo Daviess County. The location proved to be a good one, and after the village secured railroad connections its growth was substantial and constant. It now has a population of 1,200, with two State banks having a combined capital of $100,000 and deposits of over $1,- 000,000. One of them was founded in 1867 and the other in 1880. Another evidence of Lena's solid standing among the villages of the county was the establishment of the Star, in 1866. As noted, it preceded the first bank, which was established as a private institution. Samuel J. Dodds, the postmaster, was the first editor of the Lena Star, and it was in a log cabin on his farm that the first school was opened before even the village was platted. In 1854 the old stone schoolhouse was built at the corner of Franklin and Lena streets; five years afterward a substantial two-story building was erected for school purposes, and in 1868, after the two districts had been combined, even more generous accommodations were provided for the village people. In the midst THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 557 o!' ;i productive agricultural district, and the center of a Large trade, with adequate school privileges and well supported churches, Lena is an attractive home tows and developing conservatively and substantially. DAVIS AND DAKOTA The villages of Davis and Dakota, in the northeastern part of Stephenson Comity, are in Rock Hun township and are the children of what is now the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. In 1857, when the Western Union Railroad had surveyed its route through the county and was making preparations to build its line, it became evident that one, if not two stations, should lie established to accommodate the farmers of the northeastern dis- trict. Accordingly during that year, Samuel Davis, John A. Davis, Thomas J. Turner and Ludwig Stanton, who owned the land in the vicinity of the present village, donated a tract of 160 acres for a village site. Soon after- ward, the village of Davis was platted thereon, and by 1858 the sale of lots commenced. The panic of 1857, the bad effects of which had not much softened, interfered greatly with the new village, but it felt a revival with the actual com- pletion of the railroad in 1859 and the running of trains through Davis to Preeport. The greal event was celebrated in connection with the holding of the State Fair at Freeport. But from 1858 to 1863 there was little cause for encouragemenl ; the period from 1863 to 1869 witnessed much progress, and in 1872 a regular village corporation was adopted by the 64 local voters. Since that time. Davis has maintained itself as the shipping and banking center of a restricted area of a prosperous agricultural district. It has a creamery, a grain elevator, several stores and the Farmers Bank. The last named was founded in 1895 by T. Stabeck, a descendant of one of the founders of the Norwegian colony established in the township during 1839. The village has a population of about 400 people. Dakota, a few miles to the southwest, was founded in 1857 by the Western Union Railroad Company. Its site was originally owned by Robinson Baird and Ludwig Stanton. Mr. Baird's claim passed successively to Thomas J. Turner and S. J. Davis. Messrs. Stanton and Davis therefore platted the village of "Dakotah'* in 1857, and soon afterward the postoffice of "Dakota" was established. The latter spelling has been generally adopted, although after the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul absorbed the Western Union Railroad, it continued the station as "'Dakotah." Its experience as a village was similar in that of the village of Davis. In 1860 and from 1869 to 1873, its growth was quite rapid. Then its boom completely collapsed under the panic of 1873. At prevent its population is about the same as that of Davis. It has a grain elevator, several stores and a bank — the last named a State institution estab- lished in 1911. Dakota has churches and schools of good standing — its high school, known as the Interior Academy of Northern Illinois, having been founded as early as 1881 by Rev. Frank C. Wetzel, then pastor of the local Reformed Church. ROCK CITY What's in a name, surely.' For Rock City, a station on the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul line between Davis and Dakota, is well described thus: 558 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY "It is doubtful if a spot more completely devoid of life is existent in the county." At most, the settlement cannot be numbered at over 200 people. It was platted in 1859, upon the completion of the Western Union Railroad through the county, and is the historic successor of the old Rock Run Mills post office, and Jamestown or Grab-Ail, which disappeared from the map before Rock City adorned it. RIDOTT When the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad was built through Stephen- son County in 1852, its station of Nevada was established, a short distance west of the present village of Ridott. Then came the sweep of the cholera and the crushing of the "old town," as Nevada is now known by the early citizens of Ridott. In 1860, the Cochran brothers (J. S. and Freeport) con- tracted with the railroad company to lay out a town, provided the station was transferred from Nevada to the new place. The agreement was made, and not only was Cochranville platted, but the post office was moved thither from the deserted village, and the structure provided for the government service was the first building erected in the village. The first store was soon after built by the Cochran brothers and named the Farmers' Store. About the same time, Oscar H. Osborn built a house near the track which he used both as a residence and a saloon. A few other buildings were erected in 1861, and in the fall of that year the name of the village was changed to Ridott, which, with that of the township, is said to honor an official of that time in the post office department at Washington. After the close of the Civil war, the progress of the village was revived, and in 1875 its incorporation was effected. Then followed another period of slower advancement, which was again stimulated by the building of the Rockford and Freeport line, with increased railroad facilities for Ridott. The village is now one of the most promising in the county and has a population of nearly 1,200. VILLAGES OF LATER FOUNDING AND GROWTH Among other villages and railroad stations established at a later date than those already mentioned are the following : Kent, platted as a station on the Chicago Great Western Railroad, in 1887 ; Pearl City, a village of some 500 people, on the same line and farther to the southeast, which was laid out about the same time as Yellow Creek, and has a newspaper (the Pearl City News), founded in 1889 ; and Red Oak, in the northern part of the county, at the junction of the two northern branches of the Illinois Central, a short distance northwest of Cedarville. Red Oak is still only a railroad junction, although it was founded as such in 1888. It was originally called Cedarville Junction. A few miles north of Red Oak is Buena Vista, simply a station on the Illinois Central, founded and platted as early as 1852, weakly revived when the rail- road came through in 1888, but never reaching beyond the stage of a little settlement, with nothing to encourage it. Others might be mentioned, if to do so would serve any useful purpose. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 559 freeport 's growth FOR FORTY years The preceding narrative left Freeport a town of 1,500 people, in 1850, after which it browsed through the county and traced the founding and. de- velopment of outside towns and villages well along to 1890. What of moment has been happening in Freeport during that period is the scope of this sub- division of the chapter. The main features of the city's growth have been so varied as to forbid classification and to make the chronological form desirable. 1850, January 14th: Meeting held at Freeport, to organize for action on the proposed Galena & Chicago Union Railroad; with Jared Sheetz, chairman and F. W. S. Brawley, secretary. O. H. Wright was made chairman of a committee to select delegates to the Rockford Railroad Convention. The fol- lowing solution was adopted: "Resolved, That we, the citizens of Stephenson County, are in favor of a tax of 1% per annum, for three years in succes- sion, to aid in the construction of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, provided said road is located through this county." January 26th: Tax vigorously opposed at a meeting held on this date. January 28th: The Journal says: "The cars are now running to Elgin, about one-fourth the distance from Chicago to Galena." June 14th: A large and enthusiastic railroad meeting held at the court- house, Freeport. John H. Adams was chairman and Charles Betts, secretary. Speeches were made by Hon. W. B. Ogden, president of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company, and Hon. Thomas J. Turner. June 24th : John A. Holland, of Rockford, and D. A. Knowlton, of Free- port, reported that Stephenson County had subscribed $40,000 toward the building of the railroad. 1853, August 26th: The Freeport Journal says: "At last, after all the disappointments and difficulties of reaching us, the cars have come. We have seen and heard the panting of the iron horse and heard the shrill whistle of the locomotive for the first time in Freeport. Yesterday the construction train crossed the bridge over the Pecatonica and today will probably reach the depot grounds at the lower end of the town." January 11th: The Freeport Literary Institute organized at the office of Thomas J. Turner. HORATIO C. BURCHARD 1 B54 : Hon. Horatio C. Burchard locates in the city. For fifty-four years considered a resident of Freeport, although for nearly a third of that period he gave valuable national service in Washington, was a native of New York. His father came to Beloit, Wis., in 1840, but the son pursued his higher studies in Hamilton College, New York, from which he graduated in 1850. Two years later he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Monroe, Wis. In 1854 Mr. Burchard located in Freeport and was principal of the Union School. He resumed the practice in 1855 and was for some time in partnership with Thomas J. Turner. In 1857 Mr. Burchard was county school commissioner and served in the Legislature for two terms commencing 1862 and 1864. In 1869 he was elected to Congress and for a decade was recognized as one of 560 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY its ablest representatives. He was director of the United States Mint from 1879 to 1885, and in 1886 he was appointed by Governor Oglesby on a com- mission to revise the revenue laws of Illinois. He then resumed his practice, at one time forming a partnership with Hon. Louis H. Burrell, and was thus actively and ably engaged at the time of his death March 14, 1908. 1855, April 2nd: Under the terms of the municipal charter granted by the State Legislature, of that year, the following officers were elected : Mayor, Hon. Thomas J. Turner; treasurer, E. W. Salisbury; clerk, H. N. Hibbard; marshal, W. W. Smith. October 16th : The Freeport Gas, Light & Coke Company was organized at this time under a charter which the Legislature had granted in the preced- ing February. Its officers were: Thomas J. Turner, president; E. H. Hyde, treasurer; Homer N. Hibbard, secretary. The gas works were completed early in 1856. 1856 : Pells Manny and his son, J. N. Manny, commenced the manufac- ture of the reapers, subsoil plows and hay presses, which had been established a few years before at Rockford, and which gave Freeport its first industrial impetus. THE PANIC OF 1857 1857: The aftermath of the panic is thus described: "The effect of the panic of 1857 was direct and real. Immigration slackened, hard money was scarce, loans were withheld, interest was high, markets were slow, trade de- clined, business and industry came to a standstill, and laborers were thrown out of employment. Land values declined and lots and farms were a drug on the market. There was no money to move the crops and farmers, in man}? - cases discouraged because of lack of a market, let much of their lands lie idle. Merchants bought but little new stock, right glad to avoid bankruptcy on stocks in store. All over the country, banks, corporations and individuals failed. "In a business and industrial way, Freeport was making rapid progress and just at the time when it seemed that the city's development might move along by leaps and bounds, the panic dampened the ardor of enthusiasts. There was little recovery from this condition until about 1862 and 1863, when the demands of the Civil war revived a lagging business," 1858, August 27th : Lincoln-Douglas debate of this date, one of the series in the historic clash. Full details given in another chapter. 1861, April 17th : First mass meeting of the Civil war in Stephenson County was held in Plymouth Hall, Freeport, the day following Lincoln's first call for volunteers to put down the rebellion. May 1st : The first company leaves Freeport, viewed by 3,000 people. Dur- ing the entire war, the county sent 3,168 men to the front; about 700 lost their lives in support of the Union. The part taken not only by Stephenson County, but the entire Rock River Valley of Illinois is described elsewhere. 1864, February 24th : Organization of the First National Bank of Free- port, with capital stock of $50,000. George F. DeForest was elected president; Esrom Mayer, cashier; W. P. Malburn, L. L. Munn, O. B. Bidwell, C. J. Fry. Esrom Mayer, G. F. DeForest and L. F. Burrell, directors. THE ROCK RIVFR VALLEY 561 May: Organization of the Second National Bank, also with capital of $50, ( )(K). Its first president was .John II. Addams, of Cedarville, and the secre- tary, Alexander Stone. The establishment of these institutions, under the na- tional banking act, marked a revival of better times, which endured for almost twenty years, or until the panic of 1873 and the subsequent depression. 1868, February 10th: The Civil war record of Stephenson County formed a bright patriotic page in the Northwestern annals of that conflict, but it was not until this day that a meeting was called to form an association to prepare for the erection of a memorial monument in honor of those who had •riven their lives to the cause of the Union. Then was formed the Stephenson County Soldiers' Monument Association for that purpose. 1869, October 10th: Corner stone of memorial monument laid in Court- house Square. On each side of its massive base were cut the names of the soldier dead of Stephenson County. Those organizations which had given most freely were the 46th, 90th, 93rd, 26th, 11th, 15th and 74th. On the south side of the second, or upper base, fronting Stephenson Street, was the main Inscription: "To the heroic dead of Stephenson County, 1861-65." On each of the three remaining slabs of the upper base are engraved the names of the principal battles at which the sacrifice of life was greatest — Fort Donel- son, Pittsburg Landing, Siege of Corinth, Jackson, Siege of Vicksburg, Chick- amauga, Missionary Ridge, Altoona Pass, Resaca, Pea Ridge, Nashville, Kene- saw Mountain, Stone River, Waynesboro, Cattlet's Gap, Iuka, Aiken, Franklin, Nicka.jack Gap, Siege of Knoxville, Champion Hills, Farmington, Bentonville, 1 1 at eh ie. Mobile. The monument was not completed in all its details until June, 1871. It was dedicated July 4th of that year. 1869, December 16th: Meeting held at the courthouse, which resulted in the organization of the Stephenson County Old Settlers' Association. D. A. Knowlton, Sr., was elected chairman, and L. W. Guiteau, secretary. The first meeting was held at Cedarville, September 6, 1870, with President Levi Robey in the chair. 1873, February 22nd : The present courthouse was dedicated upon the day named, and was completed at a cost of $130,000, including equipment. It is four stories high, including basement and mansard roof. The old two-story fiame structure, which it replaced, was used for church meetings, conventions, and railroad and political gatherings. A writer of an earlier history says it was considered to surpass in size and elegance all other buildings west of Detroit and north of St. Louis. The old palace was hauled away to the lower end of Douglas Avenue and used as a machine shop. 1874-75, winter of — Religious revival, at which the members of a Sunday School class in the First Presbyterian Church formed the Young Men's Li- brary Association, the nucleus of the Freeport Public Library. 1882, May 29th: Foundation of the Young Men's Christian Association of the present, raised on the ruins of the second, at a meeting held on that date in the parlors of the First Presbyterian Church. The corner stone of the present structure was laid in 1888, and the institution was opened on October 6th of the following year. December 26th : Freeport was first lighted by electricity, under a con- 562 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY tract with the Van De Poele Company of Chicago which had established its plant near the Illinois Central tracks on Galena Street. THE FREEPORT OF TODAY A city of between 20,000 and 25,000 people, Freeport is one of the leading railway centers of Northwestern Illinois and a modern community in appear- ance and spirit. The Illinois Central Railroad, of which the city is a division point, operates from Freeport in five directions and has established there one of the largest machine and car shops in the system. What is now the Galena division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, was the old Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, which terminates at Freeport, and reaches Chicago, Milwau- kee, Minneapolis and all points on the line direct. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway operates the Racine & Southwestern division through Freeport, connecting the main line out of Milwaukee with that to Kansas City and Chicago. Thus Freeport has direct connections by these great carriers with all the important centers of the West and Northwest. These railroads tap the coal fields of Northern, Central and Southern Illinois, as well as of Western Kentucky ; thus fuel for industrial and domestic purposes is always obtainable at a minimum of cost. From the time that the railroads commenced to so center in Freeport that it was certain to be a good distributing point for a wide area of productive country, a number of manufacturers of agricultural implements located in the city. The Williams Threshing Machine Company, the De Armit Plow Company and the Manny works, all planted their manufactories in the valley of the Pecatonica, when it was no longer necessary to rely upon water power for their operation. Steam flour mills and sawmills gave place to the old style, and Freeport business men became noted all through Northern Illinois for their insistent demand for "more factories and hotels." And they secured them both. With the development of the city in educational, religious and high com- munity interests, the industries of Freeport expanded in variety as well as volume. So that, although the shops of the Illinois Central Railroad Company still represented its greatest industry, employing about 1,200 men, the second of the local industries is that of the Stover Manufacturing & Engine Company, the output of which covers engines, windmills, grinders and hardware specialties ; the third, manufacture medicinal, toilet and food products; the fourth, hard- ware, toys and foundry equipment ; the fifth, ladies dresses ; the sixth, extracts, toiletries and brushes, and the seventh, extension curtain rods. The delicate domestic products appear, in these days, to be competitors of the massive manufactures. The large and growing industries and business of Freeport are financed by eight substantial banks, with a combined capital of over $1,000,000, a sur- plus of nearly $1,300,000 and deposits of more than $8,000,000. The order of their establishment is as follows: First National Bank, 1864; Second National Bank, later in same year ; Knowlton State Bank, 1869 ; Stephenson County Bank, 1876 ; State Bank, 1891 ; Trust and Savings Bank, 1911 ; Security Trust Company, 1915; Guaranty Trust and Savings Bank. 1923. KRAPE PARK, F WEE PORT ITBLIC LIBRARY, FEEEPOET Vol. 1—36 564 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY The municipality of Freeport centers in the development of its public schools, its library and its utilities. Although high school courses were first offered in Freeport in 1860, as the principal and older boys joined the Union army in the following year the school was nearly disbanded. During the Civil war period there was no building of public schools. In 1866, however, the Wright school was completed, corner of Liberty and Williams, and the Lincoln Avenue school was finished in the fall of 1868. After the war, the Freeport high school enjoyed a steady growth, passing the 100 mark in 1890. The largest class, that of 1924, listed 150 graduates, and about one-third of the graduating class entered institutions of higher learning. The enrollment is now approaching 1,000, about equally divided between boys and girls. Some of the notable additions to its curriculum have been : Manual training in 1905; cooking in 1906; sewing in 1907; commercial courses, 1910; auto-mechan- ics, 1921. A magnificent high school is nearing completion. When occupied, the old building will be occupied as a Junior High. The Public Library, which is supported by City Council appropriations based on public taxes, has a collection of over 50,000 volumes. It has deposit stations in the eight grade school buildings and in the Lutheran and St. Mary's schools. Upon application, books are also distributed to the fire stations and factories. The Public Library is an invaluable adjunct to the public school system of today. The newspapers neither of Freeport, nor of any other American city, have been amenable to public or governmental control. Although strictly private in their management, with all their faults and foibles, the local newspapers are recognized as primarily educational in their character. From early times the press of Freeport has been above the average in enterprise and ability. As one of the most promising towns in the Rock River Valley, it enjoyed an early influx of newspaper men. Its first newspaper was the Prairie Dem- ocrat, started in November, 1847, by Thomas J. Turner to further his political ambitions as representative of his congressional district. The Bulletin was born the same year to further the prospects of the village itself. In November, 1848, H. G. Grattan came from Janesville, where he had been connected with the Gazette and established a whig newspaper at Freeport called the Journal. Both the Bulletin and the Journal continued their lives, the former commenc- ing to issue a daily edition in September, 1877. The Freeport Standard ap- peared in 1887, and they all were published regularly up to the time of their consolidation some years ago. The result was the Journal-Standard, a firmly established representative of all the city's activities. Freeport is remarkably fortunate in the enjoyment of an adequate sup- ply of water and electric illumination and power. The water supply is drawn from deep wells, and their capacity is said to be three times the amount pumped at the present time. The system embraces sixty miles of distributing pipes. The water for drinking purposes is filtered and may be sterilized, and that furnished for fire protection is ample. The electrical supply comes over three transmission lines, the principal sources being energized from Dixon and Wau- kegan. Freeport lias also a well arranged supply of gas. The public parks of Freeport are a strong evidence of the forethought mani- fested by her citizens, both men and women, and will stand comparison with THE ROCK RIVER VALLTSY 565 similar recreation and breathing systems of cities much larger in population and area. Frceport has several small city parks and one large public park of ninety acres, called Taylor's. The latter contains a seven-acre artificial lake, used for bathing purposes in summer and skating in winter. Several miles of beautiful driveways, a band stand and music, accommodations for visitors and picnickers, automobile grounds, tennis courts and a baseball diamond, are only a few of the attractions of Taylor's park. There is another natural park of 140 acres, lying along Yellow Creek out- side the city limits, which vies with Taylor's for popularity. Globe, or Krape pa tic, is especially appreciated for its boating, and the specimens of birds, monkeys and other animals collected there. The two large parks were ac- quired under the Illinois Park District laws and all parks and boulevard drives are maintained by the Park Board from taxes collected for that purpose. Both the fire and the police departments of Freeport are organized along modern lines. The fire department has three stations, with combination trucks and the Gamewell fire alarm system in operation. The police are well organized, and have an efficient ambulance service. With the conservation of the educational forces of the city, the supply of pure water, the furnishing of free outdoor recreation to the people, and the protection of their property and lives, through organized public service, Freeport has also to offer in large measure numerous uplifting institutions and agencies. In this classification, the churches come uppermost. The Methodists commenced their labors in 1834; the Presbyterians in 1842; the Baptists in 1845; the German Evangelical organization (St. John's) in 1847; the Episcopalians (Grace Episcopal Church) in 1849; the English Lutherans, in 1852; and the German .Methodists, in 1854. The twenty-five or more churches of the present have a large and active membership. The two Methodist churches have a membership of over 1,500; the two Presbyterian of nearly 1,100; the six Lu- theran churches of nearly 2,000, and the four Catholic churches of nearly 2,800. Connected with the churches are all kinds of social, musical and religious organizations, and among Protestants, the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young "Women's Christian Association have always had a foremost place. The building now occupied by the Y. M. C. A. was erected in 1916 and cost $115,000. It is one of the most complete in the Rock River Valley. The Y. W. C. A. is housed in a well kept club house, valued at $12,000, and opened in May, 1917, through the initiative of the Camp Fire Girls. The hospitals of Freeport play a splendid pari in the work of her charities. The oldest is the St. Francis Hospital, established in 1889, with the addition of a large building in 1924-25. The General Hospital was opened in 1910 and the Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in 1924. Freeport has the usual number of fraternities and secret societies, several of them owning fine homes. The Odd Fellows Temple is a splendid building, valued at $100,000 with the largest auditorium in the city. The Masons are owners of a beautiful temple, which with adjoining property, represents an investment of $150,000. They have extensive building plans under way. The Knights of Columbus are located in a spacious home in the heart of the busi- ness district, and the Elks and Moose are also well housed. Of the later societies characteristically American, the Rotary and Kiwanis 566 THE KOCK RIVER VALLEY clubs have made marked progress in Freeport. The local Rotary was organ- ized in 1918, and the Kiwanis Club was not set in motion until December, 1924. The Woman's Club, with a membership of over 500, has its rooms in the Masonic Temple. Perhaps the most prominent general organization connected with the social, charitable and reformatory problems of Freeport is known as the Community Service Bureau, which succeeded the Associated Charities about 1913. It was organized by a group of citizens to care for the social problems of the com- munity through the efforts of trained workers. In addition, the secretary acts as probation officer for the juvenile courts of Stephenson County and as attendance officer for the public schools of Freeport. The home service work of the County Red Cross is also handled by the Community Service Bureau. This outside work is paid for by the organizations interested. The Stephenson County Tuberculosis Board operates under the so-called G-lackin law — a law which regulates tuberculosis activities in the State of Illi- nois, and which was passed several years ago. The objects of the law are the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis, erection of district sanatoria and hospitalization of diagnosed cases ; in fact, any activities concerning tuberculosis. STEPHENSON COUNTY AGRICULTURALLY CONSIDERED A general view of the agricultural situation in Stephenson County was well presented in January, 1925, by L. M. Swanzey, president of the Farm Bureau, and it is herewith quoted : ' ' Stephenson County is naturally one of the most beautifully located, as well as being most varied in its production, in the State of Illinois. Lying at the extreme northern boundary, it shares with Wisconsin, the many small streams that are tributary to the Peeatonica River, whose valley is one of beauty from early spring until the autumn leaves have fallen. Everywhere are scattered burr oak and sugar maple, with frequent groves of oak, elm and ash, telling of the forests that were once protected from prairie fires by the bed of the river. Along these streams and among these forests, the first settlers built their homes and developed their farms. "To the south and west, Stephenson County has a prairie soil that vies with Central Illinois in fertility. As a whole the county is of a rolling topography. "The principal types of soil are brown silt loam, and yellow gray silt loam, with many variations in smaller areas, containing more or less clay or sand, with out-cropping gravel and limestone. General farming has always char- acterized the county. While in an early day vast quantities of grain were shipped out of the county, at the present time the major part of the farms feed their entire crop to livestock upon the farm, as is evidenced by a live- stock production of $4,595,100 annually. The large and numerous barns and silos to be seen everywhere, tell the tourist that they are in a dairy country. The extensive limestone and alfalfa program put on by the Farm Bureau, makes it evident that Stephenson County will continue to not only be a dairy county, but is to be a leading county in breeding the best type of high pro- ducing dairy cattle. "The Holstein Friesian has been and will continue to be the predominating TUN ROCK RIVER VALLEY 567 breed because Stephenson County is the Leading cheese producing county in the state, and contributes very largely to condensary and whole milk trade as well as to butler making. Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorns compose many herds. "While milk prices vary with the season, the many market outlets give the dairymen the competitive markets of two shipping points to the Chicago whole milk trade, about '2') cheese factories, mostly cooperative; four large creameries, one condensary and the local supply to Freeport. "The Stephenson County Holstein-Friesian Breeders disburse a large num- ber of breeding stock- and milk cows at their fall and winter sales and the Tri- County Shorthorn Breeders, representing Stephenson, Winnebago and Ogle counties, also sell twice a year at Freeport. 'The importance of pork production is evidenced by farmers' shipping asso- ciations covering all points in the county, and also by the prominence of the County Swine Breeders Association with their regular sales in Freeport as well as many other large breeders' sales. Duroc, Polands, Chester Whites and Spotted Polands are the popular breeds in the order named. "Freeporl has been widely known as a poultry breeding center for the last twenty years. The hatchery interests are developing at a rate that keeps pace with breeding production; and general egg and poultry production is increasing from general farm flocks, with the growth of the accredited hatchery. The an- nual sales of market eggs and poultry are conservatively estimated at $1,250,000. "There are about 2,790 farms in Stephenson County, averaging about 125 acres each. The number of tenants at the present time is less than half of the farmers. A large number of landlords and tenants are getting together on a form of livestock lease that tends toward longer leases and less shiftlessness. Stephenson ( 'ounty farmers do not berate the tenant farmer, but offer safe oppor- tunity to the man who can keep pace with them. "It has been because of the intensive farming and aggressive livestock enter- prises that they did not suffer financially as severely as the grain farmer of the West, during the years of depression. Better buildings, better equipment and better methods of farming which mean more fertility returned to the fields; and a larger use of limestone and phosphate are bringing their reward, as is evidenced by a farm selling recently a few miles from Freeport at $300 per acre. "There are 1,400 members in the Stephenson ('ounty Farm Bureau and for more than a year the Home Bureau has been growing in touch and service with the homes of the county. There are three cooperative elevators, two cooperative stores, and one creamery, with the 17 shipping associations and about 25 cheese factories. These bespeak the growth of the group and community idea in busi- nes8 among our farmers." CHAPTER XXIV OGLE COUNTY IN THE HIGHWAY OF TRAVEL TO THE LEAD MINES WOODS AND GROVES OF THE COUNTY ATTRACT SETTLEMENT — STEPHEN MACK AND LEONARD ANDRUS OTHER PIONEERS OF THE GRAND DETOUR REGION JOHN DEERE AND LEONARD ANDRUS ESTABLISH PLOW WORKS THE VILLAGE ONCE A TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL CENTER — 'NOW A QUIET RUSTIC VILLAGE IN A WONDERFULLY PICTURESQUE REGION BUF- FALO GROVE SELECTED AS THE SPECIAL HALF-WAY STATION TO THE MINES — ISAAC CHAMBERS AND JOHN ANKNEY OPEN ROAD HOUSES — OTHER SETTLERS AT THE GROVE — THE KELLOGG AND BOLLES TRAILS — BUFFALO GROVE POST OFFICE AND VILLAGE — JOHN PHELPS AND OREGON AS AGAINST JOHN DIXON AND DIXON 's FERRY OGLE COUNTY FORMED AND NAMED BY THOMAS FORD OREGON SELECTED AS THE COUNTY SEAT COURTHOUSE AND JAIL ERECTED THE VILLAGE AS DE- SCRIBED BY COLONEL B. F. SHEETS MARGARET FULLER 'S VISIT TO OREGON IN 1843 HER POETICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FASCINATING REGION EAGLE 's NEST, GANYMEDE 'S SPRING AND MARGARET FULLERS ISLAND DEDICATION IN 1880 — THE ARTISTS' COLONY AND LORADO TAFT 's STATUE OF BLACK HAWK THE OREGON OF TODAY — -MEMORIAL BOULDERS IN THE OREGON REGION THE CANADA SETTLEMENT THE FOUNDING OF MOUNT MORRIS THE MARYLAND COLONY — ROCK RIVER SEM- INARY PROMINENCE OF THE HITTS IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BOTH SEMINARY AND VILLAGE — DEVELOPMENT OF MOUNT MORRIS COLLEGE — FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN EASTERN OGLE COUNTY THE PIONEERS OF JEFFERSON AND HICKORY GROVES, FLAGG TOWNSHIP — FIRST SETTLERS ON SITE OF ROCHELLE — VILLAGE OF LANE, THE FORE- RUNNER OF CITY OF ROCHELLE — PRESENT-DAY DESCRIPTION — BYRON AND THE RE- GION ROUNDABOUT THE " PERFECTIONISTS" VILLAGES IN THE NORTHERN AND NORTHWESTERN SECTIONS — OGLE, A FINE LIVE STOCK COUNTY — NOTED FOR ITS SUPERIOR BREEDS — LEADING RAISERS OF PEDIGREED STOCK — MODEL AGRICULTURAL ESTATES OF THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY — SINNISSIPPI AND ROCK RIVER FARMS. Ogle County lay in the pathways of travel from the cast and south to the lead regions of Northwestern Illinois and Southwestern Wisconsin. The ad- venturers came from the New England States, sometimes overland by way of Chicago or by way of the Great Lakes from Buffalo; they poured up from South- ern and Central Illinois, as well as from Kentucky and Tennessee, sometimes by way of the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers, to Peoria, Peru and other points in the valley of the Illinois, and thence overland to the lead regions, crossing the Rock River and its wonderful valley at Dixon's Ferry. The northwestern routes carried the traveler through sections of southern, and western Ogle County; through a bright and fertile land of groves, prairie and forest tracts, to the less attractive, and ofttimes desolate region of the lead mines. 568 OGLE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, OREGON OCLK COrXTV COrii'TIIOrsK OF IMs Torn down ill 1891 570 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY WOODS AND GROVES OP THE COUNTY ATTRACT SETTLEMENT The wooded lands, with their wealth of timber and natural springs, were those which attracted the travelers from the New England states and the dis- tricts of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. It was some time afterward before the prairie lands of Ogle County, with their artificial sunken wells, appealed to the practical minds of settlers. Many of the pioneers of Ogle County were travelers who intended to settle in the lead regions and there make their fortunes quickly. Most of them became discouraged with the slowness of their ventures and their unattractive surroundings, and then remembered the charms of the Rock River country which they had traversed. The most notable wooded tract in Ogle County has always been that covered by the white pines and other trees spreading out from Pine Creek, a beautiful western tributary of Rock River. A distinct division of these wooded lands is known near and far as the White Pine Woods. It is bounded on the south by a highway running from Oregon to Polo, and on the north by the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad. To the west and the southwest the Piney Woods of Ogle County reach out irregularly toward Stratford. This tract is the only white pine grove in Illinois, and is one of the beauty spots of the Rock River Valley. More than twenty years ago the women of Oregon, headed by Mrs. Rebecca H. Kauffman, commenced their campaign to save it from the grasp of utilitarians. Later, Friends of Our Native Landscape continued the good work, which has been endorsed by the United Forest Service and other national and state authorities. Mrs. Kauffman thus describes the region which she has done so much to preserve: "Pine Creek is a most pic- turesque stream along its course at other points besides where it cuts through this forest; but in what is known as the White Pine Woods it reaches the height of its picturesque beauty and variety, as it runs by the high, rocky, vine-and- flower-covered banks, mirroring them in its clear ripples as it eddies by. The creek just before it enters the tree tract was deflected from its course, in 1885, by the railway company in extending the road to St. Paul. The red cedar is also found along this stream, chiefly on the west side, and the American yew, or ground hemlock, a third evergreen, creeps clown along stretches of its rocky walls on the east. ' ' The Grand Detour region, with its bold and stately returns of the Rock River, is also well wooded, a natural haven for all fur animals and a magnet for the early traders of the Valley, as well as one of Nature's show places for those traveling Galena-ward. To the west of Grand Detour and south of Pine Creek is the beautiful and fertile region watered by Buffalo Creek. A charming grove west of the creek and beyond Polo attracted the eye of the Galena-bound crowd ; and to Buffalo Grove came the first permanent settlers of the county. Grand Detour and Buffalo Grove, parents of Ogle County, combined their charms with those of the Pine Creek region to bring homes and happiness to the disappointed lead seekers. STEPHEN MACK AND LEONARD ANDRUS Soon after the disappearance of Pierre La Porte, believed to be the last of the French fur traders to haunt the region of Grand Detour, the Yankee, THE ROCK BIVEB VALLEY 571 Steplu'ii .Mark. s. ■tiled in thai locality, remaining several years; 1827 is generally given as the time of his coming. He is considered the first permanent settler of the Rock River Valley, although he is specially identified with Bockton, or Mack- town, Winnebago County, of which he was the founder after leaving the Grand Detour station. In 1834, with the Rock River country cleared of Indians, Leonard Andrus, of New York and Vermont, reached Dixon's Ferry, seeking the more northern land for a home. He employed two Indians to paddle him up the river in a canoe. After struggling for ten miles against the current, the men came to a great bend, where the river doubled upon itself for more than a mile and flowed in the opposite direction, as if loath to leave the enchanted country. "Added to the charm of the landscape," says a writer of that event, "was the fertility of the valley, and evident to the eye accustomed to see the streams of the Green Mountain state, was the great possibilities of developed water-power. The canoe was stopped and Mr. Andrus proceeded to make claim to what afterwards be- came the site of the present village of Grand Detour. Part, at least, of the following autumn and winter was spent by Mr. Andrus at Constantine, Mich., as is shown by old letters written to him by David Andrews, who was survey- ing the water-power and seeing to the splitting of rails on the claim and pro- tecting it from other would-be settlers." OTHER PIONEERS OP THE GRAND DETOUR REGION When Leonard Andrus returned to his claim, he came again from New York, whither he had gone from Constantine, bringing with him from the latter place, W. A. House, the latter 's wife, Sarah I., and her sister, Sophronia Weth- erby. A log cabin was built and their residence at Grand Detour began in the summer of 183"). The names of other pioneers who settled there in 1835-40 are : Amos Bosworth, William G. Dana, Marcus and Dennis Warren, Mrs. E. G. Sawyer, Cyrus Aiken, Russell Green, Solon Cummins, Charles Throop, C. C. Colburn, John Deere, E. II. Shaw. .Joseph Cunningham and Edward Wright. Miss Sarah Bosworth of Vermont, who had spent the summer of 1837 at Green Bay, Wis., started for her home in the autumn of thai year, but stopped off for a visit at the beautiful and busy little settlement at the big bend of the Rock River. She found life there so refreshing that she remained for the winter. She then went on to Vermont, but returned to Grand Detour in the summer of 1838, having been married to Leonard Andrus in dune of that year. JOHN DEERE AND LEONARD Whins ESTABLISH I'l.nW WORKS Iu the meantime, one .John Deere, a sturdy Vermont blacksmith, had settled at Grand Detour, and at about the time that Mr. Andrus brought his young bride from the Green Mountain state. Mrs. Deere joined her husband with their son Charles, then an infant in arms. A dam was already in course of construc- tion, as well as a race and sawmill, and John Deere had commenced to make a plow with a steel mold-board — an innovation in agriculture. It was a great improvement over the old style of cast-iron mold-board, which in the case of the loam soil of Illinois would not scour, as the clay soil of the East. The mold- 572 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY board could not be kept clean in turning the typical western soil unless it was set so squarely against the furrow as to be a heavy draft to the team of horses. The pioneer farmers of the Grand Detour region took readily to the new steel mold-board and its advantages soon spread abroad. Mr. Deere would forge the steel into shape and the rough mold-board would then be taken by Mr. Andrus across the river to where there was the one grindstone of the locality, where it would be ground smooth. Two years later, Andrus and Deere started the Grand Detour Plow Factory, which was the forerunner of the works estab- lished in later years at Moline, Dixon and Horicon. VILLAGE ONCE A TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL CENTER A grist mill was completed at Grand Detour in 1839, and from 1840 to 1855 it was the largest trade and industrial center in the county and one of the most important in the Valley. Its ferry vied with Dixon's; and that was saying much. The great mistake made by the citizens of Grand Detour was to oppose the coming of the railroad under the mistaken idea that its business and manu- factures would thereby be dissipated among various upstart towns. So the railroads all passed her by, and left her almost a deserted village ; the center of a triangle of lines contributing to the growth of Rochelle, Oregon, Polo and Dixon, Even the local post office was eventually discontinued and Grand Detour received its mail by rural delivery from Oregon. But the beauties of wooded stretch, and river sweep and turn, remain for the uplifting of humankind, and the once busy village is the object point of many miles of wonderful drives and the delight of the landscape artist. The Rock River section between Oregon and Dixon is generally known as the Grand Detour region. The Great Bend has a course of about three or four miles and the river returns upon itself so that its channels are only half a mile apart, its waters flowing in opposite directions. The Friends of Our Native Landscape (asi an organization, dating from 1919) have taken in charge this picturesque little peninsula, or river neck, to preserve it as Nature fashioned it. The pretty, sleepy little hamlet of Grand Detour, is an artificial gem of the neck and seems in harmony with its surroundings. BUFFALO GROVE HALF-WAY STATION TO THE MINES Buffalo Grove on the creek by that name was in the direct route of travel either from Lake Michigan or the Valley of the Illinois to the Galena lead fie'ds. It was inevitable that some adventurer, or adventurers, would select this locality to relieve travelers of some of their means, both going and coming. When Isaac Chambers, with his wife, passed through the western sections of what is now Ogle County, bound for Galena, there was no settlement in the restful grove on the south bank of the creek and in the main traveled road, probably the John Bolles trail. Mr. Chambers did not remain in Galena long, but in 1830 returned to Buffalo Grove and on the spot which he had visited on his northern adventure built a log cabin which was to serve as a home and a house of entertainment for man and beast. A few days afterward came John Ankney, who had intended to locate on the Chambers claim, but after some wrangling put up a rival road house on the north bank of Buffalo Creek. X a tup: rock river valley 573 It seems that Ankney had visited the locality, as a member of a surveying party sent out. under authority of the Jo Daviess County commissioners to lay out a section of the Galena and Peoria State Road. His son, T. C. Ankney, who wrote a sketch of the father for the Ogle County Press, says: "On Decem- ber 25th of that year (1829), he, with the other commissioners and surveying party, in pursuance of their mission, camped in a grove by a creek, which, for the vast quantity of buffalo bones covering acres of ground about the head of the creek east of the grove, they gave the name of Buffalo to the grove and the stream." Charles D. St. Vrain, John McDonald and Mr. Ankney were the view- ers appointed by the commissioners of Jo Daviess County to lay out the road from Woodbine Spring, in the eastern part of the present county to Ogee's ferry. The route crossed Fever, Apple and Plum rivers to the Rock River Val- ley, at Ogee's, and was thirty-five miles in length. In March, 1830, the viewers announced to the county commissioners that, with the assistance of a surveyor and an a.xnian, the work had been completed. Soon afterward, Mr. Ankney settled in Buffalo drove and for several years he and Mr. Chambers were rival landlords, as well as politicians. THE KELLOGG AND BOLLES TRAILS In 1830-31, John Allinger, Samuel Reed, Oliver W. Kellogg, E. P. Bush and John Brooky located in Buffalo Grove. Messrs. Bush and Brooky were Keiituekians and brought the first thoroughbred horses into Ogle County. Mr. Kellogg was perhaps the most noted trail breaker of the Rock River Valley. In the spring of 1825, he started for the lead mines from Peoria traveling in a wagon drawn by a team of horses, and bound specifically for Galena. He broke the first overland trail for that migration. He crossed Rock River east of Dixon about three miles, and passed over the prairie lying between the Polo and Mount Morris of today, touching the western part of West Grove in the present Town- ship of Lincoln and continuing northerly and northwesterly to Galena. The trail opened by John Bolles in 1826 was more direct than the Kellogg route and became more popular with Galena travelers. It passed through Ogle County a short distance east of Polo and just west of Porreston. But none of the trails went far from Buffalo Grove. All the groves in that region had at least one distinguishing feature; they abounded in honey bees, and the wild honey was much prized by the early settlers. BUFFALO GROVE POST OFFICE AND VILLAGE A post office at Buffalo Grove was established in February, 1833, and E. P. Bush was placed in charge of its light affairs, but was soon succeeded by Oliver \Y. Kellogg. Levi Warner completed the entire survey of the Peoria and Galena State Road in May, 1833. About this time Mr. Warner located a claim at Blkhorn Grove, which extended from Carroll County into what is now Brook- ville township. In the same year, Elisha Doty filed on a tract in Buffalo Grove, but neither occupied their original claims. In 1835, 0. W. Kellogg and Henry Stevenson, another enterprising settler, engaged -Mr. Warner to survey a village site in the Grove. It was called St. Marian after Mr. Stevenson's wife. Some 574 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY years later, the name was abandoned on account of the refusal of the Govern- ment to change the name of the post office, known appropriately as Buffalo Grove. At the time of the survey, there was not a house on the town site, but later in the year quite a number bought lots and built thereon. Among others was John D. Stevenson, who occupied his cabin home and store combined on New Year's day of 1836. Elisha Doty had brought his family to Buffalo Grove and after the village was platted became a resident, but afterward moved to Polo, the new town, where he was quite a figure for a number of years. He finally failed in business and moved to Iowa. Mr. Warner was long a prom- inent man in Elkhorn Grove, his daughter being the first white child born in that locality. During the decade following the platting of Buffalo Grove settlers continued to arrive year by year and a number of sawmills and flouring mills were built along Buffalo and Pine creeks. The first sawmill in the township owned by Samuel Reed, was built in the vicinity of the second house of Isaac Chambers, and its owner was kept Dusy for an entire year sawing railroad ties, all of which were taken from the groves along these streams. The early frame houses and stores of Buffalo Grove were largely built from lumber sawed from the Grove. JOHN PHELPS AND OREGON VS. JOHN DIXON AND DIXON 's PERRY The Buffalo Grove region became so widely known to travelers to and from the lead districts that when the commissioners of Jo Daviess County, on June 8, 1831, erected most of its southern territory into an election precinct, the name Buffalo Grove Precinct was given to it. The new precinct comprised what are now Ogle and Lee counties, and the eastern townships of Carroll and White- side counties, numbered perhaps twenty-five voters and half a dozen families at Buffalo Grove. That favored locality also wielded the balance of power, as Isaac Chambers, John Ankney and John Dixon were named by the commis- sioners as judges of election. But Buffalo Grove Precinct was not to remain as an unwieldy, unorganized political body ; for John Phelps was already scheming to divide it, and set up a town of his own as a rival of Dixon and the seat of justice of a new county. Galena was too far away to be used by the people of this great southern country as their county seat. John Phelps was a Virginian ; John Dixon, a New Yorker. They were both men of warm and resolute temperaments, and both leading pioneers of the Rock River Valley. From Virginia, Phelps had moved to Tennessee and afterward settled in Schuyler County, Southern Illinois. He was in the early rush to the Galena mines, but in 1833, several years afterward, determined to thoroughly investigate the Rock River country as a home seeker. In company with a Ereneh- nian, familiar with the Valley and its few people, Mr. Phelps discovered a tent on the banks of the Rock River about a mile above the present City of Rockford. Supposing it to be an Indian wigwam, the Frenchman was sent to get something to eat. But he found the tent occupied by Col. W. S. Hamilton, son of Alex- ander Hamilton, who had been sent by the United States Government to survey the Rock River country into townships. On the recommendation of Colonel Hamilton, Mr. Phelps located a farm claim about midway between Oregon and THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 575 Mount Morris, three miles wesl of the Rock River. It was long known as the Phelps Farm, and afterward became a portion of the estate of Major Charles Newcomer, of .Mount Morris. Mr. Phelps also made a claim of a pari of the site of Oregon, at firsl called Florence, and established a ferry there, which was to rival < Ogee's and Dixon 's. OGLE COUNT? FORMED On January 16, 1836, an act was passed by the Illinois Legislature defining the boundaries of Ogle County, which then embraced all of Lee. Their separa- tion occurred in February, 1839. At the time of the creation of Ogle County. Thomas Ford was presiding justice of the Supreme Court for the northern por- tion of the State and resided at Oregon. He suggested the name in honor of Captain Joseph Ogle, a Revolutionary soldier whose bravery was particularly shown at Fori Henry, now Wheeling, W. Va., and who afterward lived in Monroe County, III., where Thomas Ford's mother, with her family, also settled. Nearly a year elapsed after the county was erected by the Legislature before it was organized by the election of county officers; in the meantime, the county re- mained a political part of Jo Daviess. During the three years preceding the separation of Lee County from the original <>ide. there was constant strife between Dixon and Oregon for the county seat. During this rivalry, the courts were migratory and were held at Dixon. Buffalo Grove and Oregon. James V. Gale, a pioneer of the last named and first re order of the county, wrote as follows in regard to the first election before the division of the county: "There was great excitement at this elec- tion. All the towns were against Oregon. A large quantity of whiskey was drunk and several tights occurred. Dixon, Grand Detour, Buffalo Grove and Bloomingville i now Myron) all combined against Oregon. It was the noisiest, roughest, most exciting election ever held in the county." The Dixon candidates for the county offices carried off the honors; the following being the recorded choice: S. ( '. McClure, probate justice; James V. Gale, recorder; S. Galbraitb, county clerk; W. W. Mudd, sheriff; Joseph Crawford, surveyor. OREGON SELECTED AS THE COUNTY SEAT Tbe official existence of Ogle County began January 3, 1837, when was held the firsl meeting of its commissioners. In June, 1836, the Legislature had ap- pointed Charles Reed and James B. Campbell, of Cook County, and dames L. Kirkpatrick, of Jo Daviess County, as commissioners to select the county seat. They reported in favor of Oregon, and as the site of the courthouse named the Southeasl ' j of Section 4, Town 23, North Range 10 Fast of the Fourth Meridian. A stake was set by them on Sand Hill, just north and west of the old schoolhouse, and in January, 1839, about a month before bee County was divorced from all connection with Ogle, a contract was let for grading down Sand Hill and for building a courthouse and jail. The courthouse contract was awarded to Dr. William d. Mix, Martin 0. Hill and John C Bulett, and that lor leveling Sand Hill and erecting the jail went eventually to Joseph Knox. Knox completed his work in July, 1839, but the courthouse was not to be completed so ex- peditiously and smoothly. The story, as told by a local historian, is this: "The 576 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY foundations for the first courthouse were built on the Sand Hill, but before work was begun on the main building it was discovered that the commissioners had made a mistake in the location. Joseph Crawford, county surveyor, was called to survey the ground and certified to the error in October, 1839, and the commissioners, on the strength of this certificate, reset the stake at the place where the courthouse now stands. A bitter controversy grew out of the change in location. Lots had been sold with the expectation that the courthouse would be on the Sand Hill. The strife continued and was carried to the authorities at Washington, D. C, and finally the land commissioner of the United States settled it in favor of the present location. The contract for the removal of the foundations from the Sand Hill was awarded to John D. Grist in 1840. During that year the first courthouse in Oregon and for Ogle County was well under way, and was completed in March, 1841. On Sunday night, March 26th, the building was fired by a gang of thieves and burned to the ground." This act of arson was committed — so believed at the time — when the Banditti of the Prairies were in power, either to destroy the indictments on file against certain of their members, or to afford an opportunity for the escape of some of the clan who were then confined in jail. Whatever the purpose, it failed, as the indictments were not burned nor the prisoners released. The first jail had been completed in 1840. It was a small affair standing a little west of the present courthouse. There were no doors or windows in the jail proper. The criminal upon being arrested and brought to prison was taken upstairs, a trap-door in the ceiling or roof of the jail was raised, a ladder ten or twelve feet in length was lowered through the opening, and down it the prisoner backed into his cell. The ladder was then removed the trap-door low- ered and the jailer departed, feeling that his bird was secure. The walls were supposed to be of stone three feet thick, yet so faulty in construction that his- tory says that one prisoner, with the aid of an old jackknife, dug his way to liberty in the space of four hours. The jail was used until the brick one, which stood south of the present courthouse, was erected in 1846. The second jail was occupied for twenty-eight years. After the burning of the first courthouse a strong effort was made to remove the county seat from Oregon. Mt. Morris, Daysville, Grand Detour and Byron were aspiring towns. At that time and for a number of years, Daysville seemed more active and progressive than Oregon, and, without doubt, Mt. Morris and Grand Detour were far in advance. In April, 1843, a meeting was called to settle the county seat question. It was held at the schoolhouse, but before a vote was taken Daysville withdrew its claim and threw enough strength to Oregon to keep the county seat there. Immediately following the decision, the commissioners commenced to plan for a new courthouse. It was completed in 1848, and used for forty-four years, or until replaced by the courthouse of 1892. The origin of Oregon, the county seat of Ogle, has been traced to the recom- mendation of Colonel Hamilton to John Phelps that the locality promised well for a future settlement. Mr. Phelps had the site surveyed in 1835 and the fol- lowing year it was platted into town lots, and the name changed at the sugges- tion of Miss Sarah Phelps, daughter of the proprietor, from Florence to Oregon City. Soon afterward Ogle County was carved from Jo Daviess, and the fight for the permanent location of the seat of justice commenced. The quarrel was THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 577 BOmewhal simplified when Lee County was formed in 1839, and Dixon was eliminated from the contest. OREGON AS DESCRIBED BY COLONEL B. F. SHEETS The first house built on the town plat was erected by Jonathan W. Jenkins, whose son, Lamon T., was the first male child born at Oregon City, and the first female was Martha E. Mix, daughter of the pioneer physician, Dr. William J. Mix, who settled for practice in 1836. The post office was established at Oregon in 1837 and mail received once a week. The Lutherans first organized a reli- gious society in 1848 and two years later built the first house of worship in the place. In 1848 Oregon comprised forty-four families, with 225 men, women and children. A few years later — to be exact in 1852 — Colonel B. F. Sheets, then a prospective student for Rock River Seminary, came from the prairies of Blackberry township, Kane County, and on his way to school stopped at Oregon City. Many years afterward he was writing: "The day on which I had that firs! view of Oregon will always be remembered. A wonderful pano- rama stretched out to my view, and the sight was one of wonder and magnifi- cence to the prairie lad. This view of fair Oregon from Woolley's Hill, to a boy reared on the prairie, was grand and inspiring, even if the thermometer was at zero. I had read and heard of Oregon City, and expected to see some- thing large and fine. As we crossed the bridge (built in that year) and looked at the few ugly, scattered houses, I could hardly believe that we were beholding Oregon City. The town had gained some notoriety, being the county seat of a large agricultural section; as the home of Governor Ford, and more, as the place where Jonathan W. Jenkins, with 111 others, had been tried and ac- quitted of the killing of the outlaws. However, at that time, Oregon was a small place, no better appearing than the present city of Daysville. The people had not yet learned the value and beauty of paint, the greater part of the resi- dences being without this covering. It has been reported that one of the early founders of Oregon said: 'If I can keep God and the Yankees out, I will build a city here.' At that time it looked to me that he had been in part successful, for it was one of the most discouraging places I had ever seen. "Nine years after the trip I have described, I came to Oregon to live, on the first of January, 1861. At that time, twenty-six years after the town was laid out, the population was only about 150. There was not a sidewalk in the town. I bought a small house on the lots where I afterward built the house now (1909) owned by Mrs. Rhenius Stroh. That year we laid a single plank walk from Washington Street north to my house. If I have counted correctly, there were only seventy-one houses in Oregon at the beginning of 1861. For ten years afterward we had no railroad. We made frequent efforts, and suc- ceeded every winter in building on paper, one east and one up and down the river. All freight had to go and come from Franklin Grove and we had a daily stage line." MARGARET FULLER 'S VISIT TO OREGON In the summer of 1843 one of the most remarkable and scholarly women of her time broke away from the culture and seclusion of her New England environ- 578 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ment and recorded her deep and poetic impressions of the Rock River Valley. Margaret Fuller was a niece of William W. Fuller, a Harvard graduate, a friend of Governor Ford and for five years an attorney-at-law in Oregon. At the time of her visit to her uncle, in the course of her far Western trip, she was a master of Latin and German, a philosopher and esthete, a poet, writer and lecturer, and founder of a salon which was patronized by the cultured ladies of the East. Then only thirty-three years of age, she stood high among the scholars and litterateurs of the country. This summer on the lakes, with over- land trips into Illinois and Wisconsin, was passed by Margaret Fuller in com- pany with James Freeman Clarke, the famous Unitarian clergyman, and his sister and brother. The book which was issued as a result of these travels is a charming description of the country and people then little known to the men and women of the East. William Cullen Bryant, the poet and journalist, pre- ceded Margaret Fuller into the Rock River Valley by two years. The Fuller party crossed the Rock River, as was customary, tarried at Haze 1 - wood, or Governor Chartiers Place, a few miles north of Dixon, whence the lumber wagon, with its driver and four distinguished tourists, continued up the Rock River Valley "to a little town named Oregon." The narrative by Margaret Fuller continues: "At Oregon, the beauty of the scene was of even more sumptuous character than at our former stopping place. Here swelled the river in its boldest course, interspersed by halcyon isles on which Nature had lavished all her prodigality in tree, vine and flower, banked by noble bluffs, three hundred feet high, their sharp ridges as exquisitely defined as the edge of a shell; their summits adorned with those same beautiful trees and with buttresses of rich rock, crested with old hemlocks, which wore a touching and unique grace amid the softer and more luxuriant vegetation. "The aspect of this country was to me enchanting beyond any I have ever seen, from its fulness of expi-ession, its bold and impassioned sweetness. Here the flood of emotion has passed over and marked everywhere its course by a smile. The fragments of rock touch it with a Avildness and liberality which give just the needed relief. I should never be tired here, though I have else- where seen country of more secret and alluring charms, better calculated to stimulate and suggest. Here the eye and the heart are filled. "This beautiful stream flows full and wide over a bed of rocks, traveling a distance of near two hundred miles to reach the Mississippi. Great part of the country along its banks is the finest region of Illinois, and the scene of some of the latest romance of Indian warfare. To these beautiful regions Black Hawk returned with his band 'to pass the summer,' when he drew upon himself the warfare in which he was finally vanquished. No wonder he could not resist the longing, unwise though its indulgence might be, to return in summer to this home of beauty. "Of Illinois in general, it has often been remarked that it bears the charac- ter of country which has been inhabited by a nation skilled like the English in all the ornamental arts of life, especially in landscape-gardening. The villas and castles seem to have been burned, the enclosures taken down, but the velvet lawns, the flower gardens, stately parks scattered at graceful intervals by the decorous hand of art, the frequent deer, and the peaceful herd of cattle that MARGARET FULLER ISLAND, NEAR OREGON ■MajQT Kaf HP^F*v^ VJM Br * itUtSn' nPT" a d*r 1 JJ5 HkkOL * ■ •*- i HISTORIC CEDAR ON KAGLK'S NEST BLUFF Vol. 1—37 580 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY make the picture of the plain, all suggest more of the masterly mind of man than the prodigal, but careless, motherly love of Nature. ' ' Especially is this true of the Rock River country. The river flows through these parks and lawns, then betwixt high bluffs whose grassy ridges are cov- ered with fine trees, or broken with crumbling stone that easily assumes the form of buttress, arch and clustered columns. Along the face of such crumbling rocks swallows' nests are clustered thick as cities, and eagles and deer do not disdain their summits. One morning out in the boat along the base of these rocks, it was amusing and affecting, too, to see these swallows put out their heads to look at us. There was something very hospitable about it, as if man had never shown himself a tyrant near there. What a morning that was! Every sight is worth twice as much by the early morning light. We borrow something of the spirit of the hour to look upon them. eagle's nest, ganymede's spring and Margaret fuller island | "Two of the boldest bluffs are called the Deer's Walk (not because deer do not walk there) and the Eagles' Nest. The latter I visited one glorious morning; it was that of the fourth of July, and certainly I think I had never felt so happy that I was born in America. Woe to all country folk that never saw this spot, never swept an enraptured gaze over the prospect that stretches beneath. I do believe that Rome and Florence are suburbs compared to this capital of Nature's art." Margaret Fuller's poem "Ganymede to His Eagle" was composed on the height called the Eagle's Nest and, it is said, under the old gnarled (and now dead) cedar still to be seen there. In mythology, Ganymede was cup- bearer to Zeus and was directed by his Lord to minister to the great eagle which had winged the beautiful boy from earth to heaven. Margaret Fuller and her friends remained at Oregon for a week at the home of Joseph Henshaw, a cultured Irishman who had come from his native land in 1837. This was made necessary as her uncle was then unmarried and was keeping "bachelor's quarters," with all that the expression implies in a new and raw country. But the time of departure arrived and Margaret Fuller "hated to leave." She puts the matter in a far more poetic vein, as: "The 6th of July we left this beautiful place. It was one of those rich days of bright sunlight, varied by the purple shadows of large, sweeping clouds. Many a backward look we cast, and left the heart behind. "Farewell, ye soft and sumptuous solitudes! Ye fairy distances, ye lordly woods, I go — and if I never more may steep An eager heart in your enchantments deep, Yet ever to itself that heart may say, Be not exacting ; Be not exacting; thou hast lived one day." Margaret Fuller was never again to revisit Oregon and its surrounding beauties. She was to return to her eastern home, earn greater literary fame in the United States and Europe, meet and be honored by many of the celeb- THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 581 rities of the world, marry into an old Italian family of rank, become with her husband an outstanding figure of the Italian revolution of the late '40s, and finally, when within sighl of her beloved land, to be swallowed, with her babe and titled spouse, in the stormy Atlantic But the visit of the gifted and beloved woman was long remembered, and nearly forty yeai's afterward steps weir taken by old citizens, and leaders of culture at home and abroad, to stamp upon the country which had so appealed to her symbols of an en- during nature. Ganymede's Spring, at the foot of Eagle's Nest Bluff, was enclosed in attractive masonry and in the summer of 1880 a tablet placed on the spot, which read: "Ganymede's Spring, named by Margaret Fuller (Coun- tess D'Ossoli), who named this bluff Eagle's Nest, and beneath the cedars on its crest wrote 'Ganymede to His Eagle,' July 4, 1843." DEDICATION IN 1880 At the same time, the large island in Rock River just below the spring was named Margaret Fuller Island and its improvement was commenced as a pleasure resort. In September, 1880, both spring and island w T ere dedicated as memorials. Among other letters received from those of national fame who coidd not attend the ceremonies was a communication from A. Bronson Al- cott, the veteran transcendentalist, who, in his younger manhood, had been a warm friend and admirer of Margaret Fuller. The letter read: "Concord, Mass., September 7, 1880. "Dear Sir: — You honor me by your note of invitation to attend the dedica- tion of Margaret Fuller Island, at your Oregon, in the distant Illinois. In this celebration of a noble representative American woman and author of wide repute, your townsfolk confer a lasting honor on themselves and on the spot they dedicate to her genius. Should it happen that I find myself in your near neighborhood during the coming autumn or winter, I should not willingly pass by without paying my respects to yourself and neighbors. "With my acknowledgments for your kind invitation, I am "Very truly yours "A. Bronson Alcott." Among the men most active in these memorial matters were the late Dr. H. A. Mix and Col. B. F. Sheets. THE ARTISTS' COLONY NEAR OREGON Within a later period the memory of Margaret Fuller, and the uplifting spirit which she personified, have been given a new and a broader significance which is especially western in its scope and vitality. In 1892, "Wallace Heck- man, of Chicago, then counsellor and business manager of the University of Chicago, bought a wonderful stretch of wooded land along a bold bluff com- manding a sweeping view of Rock River adjoining Oregon, which had then developed into a pretty village. There he built himself a country home, and his estate included Eagle's Nest Bluff and Ganymede's Spring. In 1898, the Artists' Colony, an association of men and women whose lives had been con- 582 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY secrated to high thoughts, works and living, leased Mr. Heckman's property. The artistic participants in this transaction were Lorado Taft, Ralph Clark- son, Oliver Dennett Grover, Charles Francis Browne, Henry D. Fuller, Hamlin Garland, Horace Spencer Fiske, James Spencer Dickerson, Allen B. Pond, Irving K. Pond and Clarence Dickinson. The writers, sculptors, painters, musical men and women, architects, naturalists, scientists and others of like inclinations and creations, have made the Artists' Colony a leading feature of the entire Rock River Valley. Under the terms of the lease obtained from Mr. Heckman, those who enjoy the beauties and comforts of the place furnish lectures to the residents of Oregon and Ogle County under the management of the Public Library Board, and the extent and variety of the subjects pre- sented may readily be imagined. But the broad significance of this home for the children of talent and genius is found in the seclusion and association of kindred spirits in an inspiring atmosphere of Nature's peaceful and bold creation. One of them writes in the spirit of Margaret Fuller : ' ' Our ter- ritory — just above Ganymede's Spring and northwestward, completing the point of the plateau with a bit of the ravine beyond — is said to contain thirteen acres ; but the whole landscape is ours to enjoy, particularly the great panorama of the Rock River Valley extending for miles up and down stream. The view from our heights, so exceptional in Illinois, is a constant source of inspiration to our painters. There is no important exhibition in Chicago which does not contain from one to a score of paintings of this picturesque region." Painters, writers and sculptors thought, dreamed and worked on the heights selected as a home by the Artists' Colony. Mr. Garland wrote some of his Alaska stories in a tepee on the brow of the bluff. Lorado Taft prepared the manuscript of his History of American Sculpture in the seclusion of his "outlook library," at his home overlooking the Valley, while the originals of his Washington, The Blind and Black Hawk were fashioned in his studio on the bluff. Pro- fessor George S. Goodspeed, of the University of Chicago, wrote a considerable part of his "History of Ancient Civilization" in the bosom of the Artists' Colony. Mrs. Ella W. Peattie, Miss Harriet Monroe, Henry D. Fuller and Prof. Horace S. Fiske did considerable writing on the bluff. Ralph Clarkson, the portrait painter, erected a studio there, while Charles Francis Browne and Oliver Dennett Grover placed many a stretch of wondrous landscape on canvas to herald abroad the charms of the Rock River Valley. Others than those mentioned who have been entertained at Ganymede and Eagle's Nest Camp, not a few of them at the hospitable home of Lorado Taft, may be named Daniel H. Burnham, Charles L. Hutchinson, Robert Herrick, Ernest Thompson- Seton, Lucy Fitch Perkins, Judge C. C. Kohlsaat, Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler, George Barr McCutcheon, Dr. William H. Harper, Dr. Harry Pratt Judson and Professor Michelson, who, in 1907, was awarded the Nobel prize for physical research. LORADO TAFT'S STATUE OF BLACK HAWK Eagle's Nest, the historic and picturesque center of the home grounds of the Artists' Colony, has been marked since 1911 by Lorado Taft's heroic Indian statue which looms across the Rock River from Oregon and is the outstanding figure for many miles up and down the valley, it stands forty-eight feet EAGLE '8 NEST CAMP HOUSE, ARTISTS' COLONY BITE OF ARTISTS' COLONY ON ROCK RIVER 584 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY high on a massive artificial base of concrete and a greater foundation of natural rock which rises nearly three hundred feet from the bed of the valley. This superb marker was presented by Professor Taft to the State of Illinois and the nation through the momentous dedication which occurred July 1, 1911, sixty-eight years to a day after Margaret Fuller steeped her rich and tender soul in the glories of the region. Several hundred of the distinguished men and women of northern Illinois were at the dedication, and its exercises in- cluded the reading of an original poem by Mrs. Peattie on the "Pine Forest"; an address by Edgar A. Bancroft ; responses by Dr. Charles Eastman and Miss Laura M. Cornelius, modern representatives of Sioux and Iroquois blood; and another poem by Hamlin Garland on the "Trail Makers." Frank 0. Lowden presided over the gathering. It was said by the Ogle County Republican in describing the event which af tertimes will recognize as historical : ' " The building of the statue was a labor of love on the part of Mr. Taft. He bore all the expense of the under- taking. The land on which it stands is owned by Wallace Heckman, attorney, who owns several hundred acres, and where himself and family are pleased to make their summer home. The idea of building an enduring statue oc- curred to Mr. Taft when he was on a European tour years ago. Finally the idea took the form of a gigantic Indian figure of concrete on the beautiful Eagle's Nest site, where Black Hawk once roamed at will and whence he was exiled by the whites to a reservation in Iowa. 'Black Hawk is my greatest foolishness,' Mr. Taft once remarked, but he has a real affection for this latest work, as his intimate friends know. The usual Indian trappings are missing from the statue. The figure stands with folded arms in majestic contempla- tion of the beauties of the valley— Black Hawk come back to view what was once his own. "Just prior to the conclusion of the splendid program a vigorous demand was made by the audience for a few words from Professor Taft, who modestly responded with an explanation of the birth of the great monument that is to endure for ages. He said that it just seemed to grow up out of the ground. In passing from the Artists' Colony to the Heckman home, it seemed impos- sible to pass the point of the bluff without stopping for a few minutes and, with folded arms, view with admiration the beautiful valley; and what seemed irresistible to Mr. Taft, he said, must have been more so to the American Indians, those great lovers of nature : and out of this sprang the idea. Then he saw some men building a chimney out of reinforced concrete ; and he thought if reinforced concrete would make a good chimney it ought to make a good Indian, and set about preparing a small model ; from which grew the great monument. Mr. Taft refuses to claim all the glory of the achievement, saying that the credit is due to John G. Prasuhn, who fairly lived with the great Indian for a period of two years, until completed in its present shape, making the measurements and overcoming all obstacles in increasing the size from the miniature model given him as a guide." OREGON OF THE PRESENT The Oregon of today is a clean, pretty village of about 2,500 people, with churches, schools, banks, newspapers, factories, well stocked stores, paved streets, THE ROCK KlVKi; VALLEY good water and lighl service, and everything else to make life comfortable, prosperous and happy. It is do longer the shabby, disconsolate looking town, of muddy streets and onpainted houses, as seen by Colonel sheets in 1852. Perhaps the first of its agencies to make life worthwhile was the church. As early as I s :!:'. the .Methodists organized a little class at John Phelps' Oregon City, when the young settlement was on the Buffalo Grove circuit. Oregon became the head of a circuit in 1850. In the meantime, in 1848 the Lutherans had organized, and in 1850 built a church, which was used as a meeting house not only by the Lutherans, but by the Methodists and Presbyterians. The .Methodists completed their own house of worship in 1857. Quaintly illustrating, the friendly spirit of those early times and the ex- cusable union of "Church and State," is the deed of gift pertaining to the bell winch, for years, rang out from the cupola of the old Lutheran Church on municipal and public occasions, as well as for religious services. It reads: "The Ladies Philanthropic Society of Oregon, wishing to secure as far as in their power the greatest good to the public, hereby agree to make the follow- ing disposition of the bell which they purchased and fulfill the expectation of the community as promised: The Society donates the bell in trust to the Lutheran Church of Oregon to be put up in the belfry of their house of wor- ship, to remain there for use so long as the building shall be used as a house of worship, reserving the right to the citizens of Oregon to use the bell in said church on all public and suitable occasions as a Town Bell. This agree- ment may be terminated by consent of the trustees of said church and the citizens of the town at any time, but not by one party so long as these terms are complied with ; and if at any time there shall be a failure on the part of said Lutheran Church, or its trustees, the bell with its fixtures shall be at the disposal of the citizens of Oregon. This instrument to take effect as soon as approved by the Society and accepted by the trustees of said church." The measure went into effect on August 26, 1851. St. Mary's Catholic Church was organized in 1862. The schools of Oregon originated in the small class taught in the house of Jonathan W. Jenkins in the winter of 1837. This was the first building erected on the town plat. Oregon's first graded school was organized in 1873, and E. L. AVells, who had been superintendent of the count}' schools for twelve years, established a normal training school in 1879. It was a useful and popular institution for many years. The Ogle County Reporter dates from 1851, and the Ogle County Republican, which is but a child in comparison, has been published since 1888. The Reporter was published by Mortimer W. Smith when Abraham Lincoln visited Oregon and on August 16, 1856, de- livered an address in grounds which were on the east side of North Fourth Street. The bell in the Lutheran Church belfry doubtless heralded the event. MEMORIAL BOULDERS In September, 1904, at the twentieth annual reunion of the soldiers and sailors of northwestern Illinois, exercises were held to dedicate a huge gray granite boulder found in Pine Rock Township and transported to the spot designated as the approximate site of the Lincoln address. Judge J. H. Cart- 586 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY wright delivered the principal address in the exercises, which were conducted under the auspices of the Oregon Woman's Council. At the conclusion of the program, that organization placed the boulder in charge of the Women's Relief Corps, to be fittingly remembered by them on Decoration Day in con- nection with their other observances. There are other memorial boulders in the Oregon region marking events of a most somber hue. The place where the Driscolls were shot, in Washington Grove, Pine Rock township, a few miles east of Oregon, is marked by a red, or dark pink boulder, and in White Rock township is another massive boulder placed where John Campbell, captain of the regulators, was assassinated by the Driscolls. What is known as the Black Hawk Boulder originally lay on the crest of a cliff along the west side of Pine Creek township. Standing upon this granite boulder one could get a view of the country across Pine Creek down to Rock River. One of the old settlers once related that while a party of Indians was returning through this region on a hunting and fishing trip an old woman, who was a member of it, told him that as a little girl she had seen Black Hawk stand upon this boulder and urge his braves to be valiant ; and that it was his custom to use this cliff and boulder as an outlook. Being himself con- cealed from a possible enemy, he could see the Mount Morris region to the north ; the country across Rock River Valley and beyond Nachusa in Lee County to the east ; along the old deserted path of Pine Creek and across the landscape beyond, to the southwestward, and far into Whiteside County to the west. About twenty years ago, the boulder was moved a short distance to a spot on Pine Creek which became quite a pleasure resort under the name of Bovey's Springs. THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT Although it never became a large center of population, what is known as the Canadian Settlement was a pioneer collection of intelligent and enterprising people who long exerted a good and a, wide influence in Western Ogle County. It was located several miles to the northwest of Polo and covered a site of well watered groves and good mill facilities. It was called the Canadian Set- tlement because the bulk of those who came to this locality, at the corners of Buffalo, Eagle Point, Brookville and Lincoln townships, were refugees from the Dominion of Canada who were escaping from the Rebellion of 1837-38. A few settlers from the eastern states had located there prior to the coming of the Canadians and not a few Yankees reenforced them at a later date. The first regular schoolhouse was built of brick, in the fall of 1843, in the south- east corner of Brookville township, and numerous private schools were opened at the time that this more permanent institution was conducted. As an in- dication of the spirit of the Settlement an effort was made to establish a library. It was truly said: "The literary, educational and religious activity of its members exerted a wide influence upon the surrounding community, and the Settlement stood second to no other in point of enterprise and in- telligence in the County." OLD STONE QUARRY, ROCHELLE SOUTH park sti;i:i:t, moixt morris 588 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE FOUNDING OF MOUNT MORRIS But the undisputed center of education was being founded in 1837 farther to the northeast and nearer Rock River, by a band of enterprising and intel- ligent men and women from Maryland. They were gathering around the crest of a high hill, spongy Avith springs and cut by ravines and hollows. Mount Morris, with its seminary, was on the way. John Phelps had explored the Rock River Valley and, through his friend, Colonel William Hamilton, whom he had first met in the lead mines, located the three-hundred acre farm in Mount Morris and Rockvale townships and selected Oregon as the crossing of the Rock River on his bee-line road from Chicago to Galena. In the summer of 1836 Squire Samuel M. Hitt and Captain Nathaniel Swingley had come from Maryland and made a number of prairie claims, including the present site of Mount Morris. John Phelps was then living on his farm about two and a half miles east, and three or four others had settled along the edge of the timber. In the following autumn, Messrs. Hitt and Swingley had returned to Maryland and hired a number of men to settle with them in the new coun- try, promising to pay them one dollar per day for building houses, splitting rails and putting up fences, breaking the prairie and harvesting the crops. About a dozen men were thus engaged. Three of the men were accompanied by their wives, and there were a widow and her married daughter, with two children. The members of the colony traveled by wagon and early in the spring of 1837 they arrived at a vacant cabin in Fridley's Grove, east of the present site of Mount Morris. The cabin had been built and occupied by Judge Ford when he first came to the country and stood in Rockvale town- ship, three miles east of the destination of the Maryland Colony. The women and children were sheltered in this log hut for two weeks, while the men pro- ceeded to erect their cabins. The first one completed, which was also the first in the township (for the house built by John Phelps was just over the line in Rockvale township), was on the claim of Mrs. Elizabeth Ankney, who had brought to this western country her little son, Albertus. The boy continued to live in Mount Morris township for sixty-eight years. Several other cabins were soon completed and most of their occupants remained in Ogle County. During the year 1837 came Rev. Thomas S. Hitt and settled upon a claim which had been reserved by his brother, Samuel M. There this faithful Meth- odist minister, and perhaps the most prominent individual in the founding of Rock River Seminary, lived until his death on September 23, 1852. He was the father of eight children, of whom the most prominent was Robert R. Hitt, who was brought to Mount Morris by his father and mother. That remained his home until his death in 1906, although his official residence was in Paris, France, where for seven years he was identified with the American Legation, and during the last twenty-four years of his life as a congressman in Washington. THE MARYLAND COLONY The settlers who arrived in 1837 were well pleased with the new country and consequently in the spring of 1838, Messrs. Hitt and Swingley, who had THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 589 organized the first migration, induced even a larger number of families to start from Maryland and head toward what is now Mount Morris township. They became known as the Maryland Colony proper. Many took up their claims in Mount Morris township and others went into Carroll County farther to the west. BOCK RIVER SEMINARY The founding of Mount Morris as a village and the establishment of the Rock River Seminary are part and parcel of the same occurrence. As has been stated in the chapter on Education in the Rock River Valley, the Illinois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church which met at Jacksonville in 1838 had approved the plan of founding an institution of higher learning in northern Illinois; not only that, but that authoritative body had placed its approval on the actual selection of its site. The Maryland Colony had been solidly behind the scheme, and had been the means of raising a fund of $8,000 and donating a tract of 480 acres on the heights destined for the nucleus of the village and seminary. All the preliminaries being arranged, the con- ference appointed a building committee consisting of Samuel M. Hitt, Nathaniel Swingley and C. Burr Artz to arrange for the erection of the first structure of the famous Rock River Seminary. The $18,000 contract was let to the master builder of the Maryland Colony, James B. McCoy. Mr. McCoy im- mediately erected a small frame building on what afterward became the south side of the college campus, and used it as a boarding house for his carpenters. That was the first house built within the corporate limits of the present vil- lage of Mount Morris. PROMINENCE OF THE HITTS The second building erected was the seminary structure, the corner stone of which was laid July 4, 1839. The widespread interest taken in the founding of this Methodist seminary by the people of northern Illinois has already been described in the general chapter on education, but perhaps the fact of the fundamental influence of Rev. Thomas S. Hitt in the realization of this worthy ambition has not been sufficiently emphasized. The founders of the Maryland Colony had previously instituted and enthusiastically supported the Pine Creek Grammar School, and they appointed Mr. Hitt as their representative to the 1838 Illinois Conference of the M. E. Church for the special purpose of in- ducing that body to take over that institution and develop it into a school of higher learning. Instead, the conference adopted the plan of founding a seminary representative of the people of northern Illinois and gave the Mary- land Colony a chance to compete in the contest for a site. Mr. Hitt was selected as one of the committee chosen to receive proposals for such a loca- tion. As much to him as to any member of the Maryland Colony was due the choice of the Mount Morris site, and when the corner stone was laid in the midst of much general rejoicing by the people of the Rock River Valley, the honor of laying it and delivering the dedicatory address was accorded to Rev. Thomas S. Hitt. During the summer in which the corner stone was laid, 590 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY a part of the prairie about the building was surveyed and platted by D. Fletcher Hitt, another of the brothers, and the future village was named Mount Morris. The name given to the town plat is said to have a double significance. Primarily, it is believed to honor Bishop Morris, of the M. E. Church, and, secondarily, to be given in deference to the wishes of Horace Miller, of Kish- waukee, who had been active in his efforts to secure the site for his home town. As he had come to that pretty settlement in the upper Rock River Valley from Mount Morris, N. Y., he is said to have also suggested the name. This pioneer of the seminary buildings was occupied until 1893, when it was torn down and replaced by a ladies' dormitory, erected a few rods west of the old foundation. During several years, the Rock River Seminary was the only enterprise in the village, the inhabitants being those connected with the in- stitution. But on January 1, 1842, another institution appeared in the form of a newspaper, the Rock River Register. In its first number, it announced that it hailed from the top of Mount Morris and from the new and hale little village by that name — which held 282 souls, inclusive of the teachers and students at Rock River Seminary, which dignified the center of the village. Outside of the seminary were 137 citizens and 21 houses. The first store in Mount Morris was opened in October, 1841, by Daniel Brayton and his son, Frederick B., and some member of the family continued in business at Mount Morris for many years afterward. From the time of its founding in 1839, the village grew slowly but steadily until 1855, when it had become a prominent trading point, with several mills on Pine Creek tributary to it. During that year, the Illinois Central was built through the county to the south and the new town of Polo attracted much of the business which had formerly gone to Mount Morris. According to law, in December, 1847, the town was qualified to become incorporated as a village. Accordingly, Daniel Brayton canvassed the place, issued a notice (sworn to before a justice of the peace) that there were over 200 inhabitants in town, and called a meeting of citizens to be held in the seminary chapel on December 28, 1847, to decide whether a village incorpora- tion should be adopted. Nineteen votes were cast in favor of it, and none against the measure. On the 15th of January, 1848, the village electors held a meeting in the chapel and selected Aaron C. Marston, Andrew Newcomer, James J. Beatty, Jonathan Knodle (the editor) and William McCune, trus- tees of the new corporation. A week after, the Board of Trustees met and passed acts prohibiting the sale of liquors except for medicinal and mechanical purposes, declaring drunkenness and gambling public nuisances, licensing shows. circuses and theaters, but prohibiting horse-racing, shooting at marks or firing of guns within the corporate limits. After the close of the Civil war, there seems to have been a considerable enlivening of trade in Mount Morris and a number of stores were started, but the village was not assured of its standing as long as it was without rail- road connection. In 1869, the Legislature incorporated the Chicago & Iowa Railroad Company. In the summer and autumn of that year, its engineers located the road from Rochelle to Oregon and the w r ork of grading was nearly completed. After some vexatious delays occasioned by the inability of the road to obtain rails and ties, a construction train reached Rochelle on the SCIENCE BUILDING, MOUNT MORRIS COLLEGE, MOUNT MORRIS COLLEGE CAMPUS, MOUNT .MORRIS COLLEGE, MOUNT MORRIS 592 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY thirty-first of December, 1870. In April, 1871, the line was completed to the east bank of the Rock River opposite Oregon, and in the following October cars were crossing the bridge. The first passenger train was run to Mount Morris November 12, 1871, and from that date, with the founding of Mount Morris College as successor to the Rock River Seminary, the village has con- tinued its substantial, if placid, existence, as an influential center of learning and moral radiation. DEVELOPMENT OF MOUNT MORRIS COLLEGE The first principal of the old Rock River Seminary was Professor Joseph N. Waggoner, of the Genesee (N. Y.) Wesley an Seminary. He arrived at Mount Morris in June, 1840, and as the seminary building had not been com- pleted he taught during the summer in the old log schoolhouse on Pine Creek in which Quimby Allen had formerly held forth. He was reengaged at the expiration of the first three months at $20 per month until the beginning of the first term, when his salary was to be fixed at $300 per annum. The annual session of the Rockford Conference was appointed at Mount Morris in the fall of 1840, when it was expected the seminary building would be so far completed that the meeting could be held beneath its roof, but in this expectation the people were disappointed, as its interior walls were still unplastered. Consequently, the delegates held a camp meeting in the grove about two miles northwest of the unfinished edifice. In September, 1840, the Rock River Conference appointed the following Board of Trustees of the seminary : John Clark, Samuel M. Hitt, John H. Rountree, J. B. Crist, An- thony Pitzer, Nathaniel Swingley, Leander S. Walker, James Mitchell, John Sinclair, C. Burr Artz, Thomas Ford, Bartholomew Weed, Thomas S. Hitt and James J. Beatty. Rev. John Sharp was appointed steward and all ar- rangements made for the opening of the school. On the first Friday in Novem- ber, 1840, the first term of the Rock River Seminary was opened and continued twenty-two weeks. The board of instruction consisted of Prof. Joseph N. Wag- goner, principal and professor of languages; Rev. Lyman Catlin, professor of mathematics, and Miss Cornelia N. Russell, preceptress. The seminary was formally dedicated January 3, 1841, Samuel N. Samples, a lawyer of Oregon, delivering the address. About this time, Rev. Luke Hitch- cock, later an eminent Methodist divine, was appointed an additional special agent, to assist Samuel M. Hitt, the regular agent, whose health was failing. The seminary was also incorporated and a charter accepted. In August, 1842, Professor Daniel J. Pinckney, - also of the Genesee Wes- leyan Seminary, succeeded Professor Waggoner as principal. For more than thirteen years he devoted his time, energies and money to the upbuilding of the Rock River Seminary, during most of that period as its principal. His absence from that post in 1847 was in connection with his duties as a member of the constitutional convention of 1847. It was during the last years of his service that a massive stone structure replaced the original spminary building, which was called Old Sandstone. It was forty by one hundred and twenty feet in dimensions, four stories high, and the material for it was quarried from a ledge along Pine Creek. When the original Old Sandstone THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 593 was torn down in 1893, the name was transferred to the new building, com- pleted about 1855. Old Sandstone No. 2 became the home for the young men of Mount Morris College. The seminary changed hands often during the following twenty years or more, the property was mortgaged and after the early '50s the Northwestern University at Chicago had been seriously cutting into the patronage formerly extended to the Rock River Seminary by the Methodists of northern Illinois. In 1878, the Rock River Seminary closed its career as a Methodist institu- tion, and to pay its creditors Robert R. Hitt bought the property and held it for about a year. In 1879, Mr. Hitt disposed of the property formerly held by the Rock River Seminary to Elders Melchor Newcomer and D. L. Miller, and Professor John W. Stein, of the German Baptist Brethren Church. These gentlemen purchased the buildings and grounds with the intention of founding a school to be conducted under the auspices of that denomination, and after spending several thousand dollars in improvements reopened the school as the Rock River Seminary and Collegiate Institute. Professor Stein was elected presi- dent and Mr. Miller, business manager, of the new institution; and the first term of the school under the management of the Brethren was opened August 20, 1879. There were about sixty students in attendance, and Professor Stein's administration of two years was remarkably successful until terminated by a social lapse, which, in view of his previous record and general strength of character, was deemed inexplicable by his closest friends and ardent admirers. After Professor Stein's departure, Elder D. L. Miller (afterward Bishop) was elected president and was followed in 1884 by Prof. J. G. Royer. During that year the trustees obtained a new 7 charter for the school and changed the name to Mount Morris College. Professor Royer was succeeded by J. E. Miller in 1904, by Prof. John S. Noffsinger in 1915, by Dr. Levi S. Shively in 1918, and by Professor A. J. Brumbaugh in 1922. The editors and publishers of this work w r ere fortunate in securing the cooperation of Professor Brumbaugh in the collaboration and verification of this history. The Mount Morris College of today is a well conducted institution at- tended by two hundred students. It is in affiliation with the State University and its curriculum embraces all the regular and special courses required in a "standard college in Class B." The Academy as a distinct organization of the college was discontinued in June, 1923. Around its pretty campus of seven acres in the central part of town are half a dozen substantial buildings, erected at different periods in the lives of Rock River Seminary and Mount Morris College. Built in 1852-55, Old Sandstone was partially destroyed by fire in Janu- ary, 1912. In that and the following year, it was rebuilt as a Library and Science Hall. Ladies Hall replaced the original Old Sandstone in 1893. Col- lege Hall was built in 1890 and in 1908 the Auditorium-Gymnasium was erected. The men's dormitory was completed in 1913. During the school year 1919-20 the college built a well-appointed greenhouse, which is used for laboratory work in the department of agriculture, and during the same period an athletic field of four acres was purchased and improved. The central heating plant is across the street from the campus. It was installed in 1912 and furnishes 594 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY heat to the six college building's by the vacuum system. The latest acquisition to the educational facilities of the college is a demonstration farm of more than 140 acres, located at the edge of town. So that Mount Morris, as in the days of old, is enveloped by an atmosphere of learning and scholarly retirement. PIONEERS OF JEFFERSON AND HICKORY GROVES It was not until three years after the Black Hawk war that white settlers commenced to come into eastern Ogle County and locate in Jefferson and Hickory groves along Kyte River. As the Pottawatomies passed over the prairies, they were wont to camp year after year in these cool, inviting and fertile groves, and they left their lodge poles standing, as a sign that they considered these localities their temporary homes. The first settlers of the white race in the region between the Illinois and the Kishwaukee and in the valley of the Kyte followed the suggestion of the red men. Jefferson Grove claimed the pioneer whites of Plagg township and soon afterward Hickory Grove. John Randall, with his sons and daughters, in 1837, built a log cabin on the north side of the river, or creek, in Hickory Grove. Then, in the fol- lowing year Sheldon Bartholomew and Willard P. Flagg bought Randall's claim, which extended on either side of the stream. They lived together in the Randall cabin until 1839, when they divided the claim, Bartholomew tak- ing all on the north side and Flagg on the south side. Randall, in the mean- time with his large family, had moved to Jefferson Grove, and quite a number of families located there also. At this time, the settlement near or in Jeffer- son Grove contained several more people than that at Hickory Grove. The former was called Skunk Town, not as a slur upon the people located there, but (literally) because of the large number of those offensive animals which frequented Jefferson Grove. FIRST SETTLERS ON SITE OF ROCHELLE The first settlement of what is now the City of Rochelle was called Hickory Grove ; earlier, it was known as Loblolly Grove. Hickory Grove finally got the start of Jefferson Grove, although until 1853 it consisted of a collection of only half a dozen cabins, a store and a blacksmith shop. In 1853, when it was known that the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad — otherwise known as the Dixon Air Line, or by some scoffers as the Gas Line Railroad — was building toward Kyte Creek, some capitalists from Rockford, including R. P. Lane, T. D. Robertson and Gilbert Palmer, bought a large tract of land from Aunt Charlotte Bartholomew, and platted that portion of Rochelle now known as the Original Town of Lane. During the building of the railroad, several located in the hamlet of Lane. The last rail on the Dixon Air Line was laid January 14, 1854, and the event was celebrated most enthusiastically by the people of Lane, as their town was the terminus of the railroad for the coming year. The completion of the road to that point was celebrated by a banquet held at the Lane Hotel, which had been built during the previous year by Horace Coon. There was singing, speech-making and everything, but the banquet part of the celebra- "*•: CITY HALL, ROCHELLE POST OFFICE, ROCHELLE Vol. 1—38 596 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY tion was somewhat curtailed, as word came during the evening' that a train bearing the Chicago excursionists had broken down ; consequently, the hosts aud hostesses of Lane sent the stranded Chicagoans a wagon-load of provisions. Prior to 1854, the post office was called Story and was located south of the river in Hickory Grove. It was next moved a mile north at the Birdsell Corners and kept by Alba 0. Hall. During its first year as a railroad station, the town of Lane was favored with the post office. >'V -' V VILLAGE OF LANE, FORERUNNER OF ROCHELLE The Village of Lane was incorporated by act of the General Assembly on February 22, 1861. In 1865-66 a bill was passed changing the name of the village to Rochelle, and on April 10, 1872, occurred its first election under the city charter authorizing municipal organization. J&~i, Rochelle has developed into one of the most prosj^'ouis cities in the Rock River Valley. It has a population of about four thousand people and is the center of a fertile region of farm lands and orchards; has adequate passenger and freight service over three lines of railroad, as well as over the great Lincoln Highway. The leading industries of Rochelle are based on the pro- ductions of its tributary territory. Probably the largest sheep feeding yards in the State are located at this point. They comprise sheds and other in- cisures and several hundred acres of fine grazing land through which flow never-failing streams of pure water. During the sheep-feeding season, when shipments are moving from the "West to the Chicago market, it is said that the establishment handles several hundred thousand sheep per week. The Caron Spinning Works manufacture all kinds of knitting yams, made entirely of what are known as bright wools which are grown only in the Middle Western States. This large plant, which employs from 175 to 200 men, boys and girls, was established at Rochelle in 1915 during the World war. The Rochelle canneries, drawing their vegetable products from more than 6,000 acres of neighboring truck farms, are known everyHvhere, and have given the city the name of being the largest individual pea packing town in the United States. The Kennedy Cereal Mills are known especially as manufac- turers of superior rolled oats. The Rochelle Seed Company puts forth pure- bred seed oats, corn and wheat by the ton, and just outside of the city to the south is another firm which owns one of the most noted Hereford herds of pure and aristocratic blood in the country. The city and surrounding country are fortunate in having large and valuable deposits of gravel to draw upon for the construction of highways. A most noticeable deposit is located about four miles south of Rochelle and half a mile east of the Meridian High- way. The bed is utilized by a company fully equipped with pumps and other apparatus by which the material is sucked through six-inch pipes, thoroughly washed and prepared for use at the rate of a carload of gravel per hour. One of the oldest of the local industries and one of the most noticeable is the manu- facture of gasoline motors or locomotives for coal and metal mines. The busi- ness was founded by George D. Whitcomb in 1878, and is the oldest industry of continuous operation in the city. The enterprise and forward look of the people of Rochelle is seen in the SEVENTH STREET LOOKING NORTH, ROCIIELLE TOWNSHIP II 10 II SCHOOL, ROCIIELLE 598 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY many improvements that are constantly going on in the city. Already there are many well paved streets. A complete sewer system was put in a few years ago, and the city owns its electric lighting and waterworks plant. The water for the city's consumption is pumped from several deep wells and is of the purest. Rochelle has also one of the best equipped gas plants in the State, but it is under private ownership and management. Two banks and one loan and trust company attend to the financial needs of the city. It has four weekly newspapers to state the facts and herald the future of Rochelle and its institutions, and six churches, with their auxiliary societies, to maintain the moral and spiritual character of the community. The public schools are of high grade. Besides the Community High School, with its $200,000 edifice, are one high school and a graded school. Two parochial schools and an in- stitution for the deaf and dumb are also included in the list of educational institutions which make Rochelle a desirable home city for men, women and children of all classes. Finally, mention should be made of the Rochelle Cham- ber of Commerce as a real force in the stability and progress of the place. BYRON AND ADJACENT REGION The region about Byron, in the northeastern part of Ogle County, is fertile, picturesque and interesting. The facts connected with its first settlement are thus given in Kauffman's history of Ogle County: "In 1835, Jared W. San- ford, of Connecticut, was on his way up Rock River from Dixon's Ferry to Midway (then Rockford), a place of 'two families and eight or ten young men,' where he had a brother in the employ of Germanicus Kent. As he passed a point a mile west of where Byron now is, attracted by its beauty and by the opportunity the river showed for water power, he stopped and staked a claim. Then going on to Midway, he returned next day, bringing with him his brother, Joseph Sanford, and Perry Norton, the latter lately ar- rived from New York. The three staked claims until they had included about two sections, this proving the beginning of what is now Byron township. "Soon afterward, Jared W. Sanford and Perry Norton, in order to estab- lish their claims, returning with a horse and a yoke of oxen, plowed a strip of ground and laid the foundations of two cabins. In order to procure oxen, Mr. Norton traveled as far as Indian Creek, near Ottawa, before he found any for sale, there purchasing three yoke, for which he paid $150.50. Then returning, he brought with his cattle a cart and plow and, with M. M. York, who bought an interest in the claim, P. T. Kimball, from Vermont, and a Mr. Rogers, began splitting rails for fencing the claim. For twenty-three days they lived in the wagon-box and a rail shanty. This was in October. They obtained a canoe made by Pottawatomie Indians, who passed up and down the river at intervals. Their name for the stream for generations had been Sini- sepo, which became for us Sinnissippi. "After spending the winter at Midway, Mr. Norton returned in the spring and found a log cabin already built and occupied by M. M. York, P. T. Kim- ball, Sebra Phillips and Joseph Sanford. The cabin. 10 by 14 feet, was the first house in the township, being located across the river and opposite the the village which grew up later." A village was promptly started on the THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 599 claim of Messrs. Sanford and Norton; it was called Fairview, after Mr. San- ford's Connecticut home. In the fall of 1836, S. St. John Mix erected the first house on the town site, which was occupied both as a dwelling and a general store. P. T. Kimball built the second house which was opened as a tavern by Lucius Reed, and other buildings soon followed. The lumber was obtained from John Phelps' sawmill on Pine Creek, but in the year 1837 the Sanford brothers built a sawmill on the small stream north of the village, while in 1838 William Wilkinson, of Buffalo, N. Y., came into the community and put up a gristmill. The nearest post office was Dixon, twenty-six miles down the river, and mail was obtained, when someone drove for it, about once a week. This con- tinued only a short time, and when the stage line of Frink and Walker was established between Dixon and Rockford, the village was given a post office. In the meantime, the name had been changed from Fairview to Bloomingville, and as there was then a Bloomington and a Bloomingdale in the State, an- other change was thought advisable. Some unrecorded lover of the poems of Lord Byron suggested the name which remains. The town of Byron grew and its shops from which were turned out wagons, plows and corn cultivators, earned quite a widespread reputation. Private schools were started at Fairview almost as soon as the town was born, and from 1851, for several years, Byron Academy earned a good rep- utation as an academy. Its building was afterward sold to the village and was long occupied as a public school. Byron township was very patriotic during the Civil war, and in October, 1866, its men and women dedicated one of the first memorial monuments to its soldiers ever raised in Illinois. In 1900, it was felled by a wind storm, but was immediately restored in more enduring form. The Methodist missionary was in the Byron region soon after the arrival of Messrs. Norton and Sanford, and in 1835, before the first house was fairly completed opposite the site of the future village, Rev. Mr. Abbott, who was passing that way, preached to a few of the settlers who could be gathered there. In 1837 a Methodist society was formed. But the first religious or- ganization was effected by a handful of Congregationalists in that year by Rev. Morrell, of Rockford. The first pastor was Rev. E. Brown, who came from North Hadley, Mass., in 1838. Both Congregationalists and Methodists, as well as Catholics, have churches at Byron. the Byron was widely advertised in the late '70s and the early '80s as the home of the strange cult known as the Church of the First Born, or the Per- fectionists. In 1877, the pastor of the Congregational Church of Byron was Rev. L. C. Beekman. His wife, Dora, was prominent in church work and she showed considerable ability as an exhorter. The story which she told her husband and others was that one night she awoke with an irresistible desire to pray and, going into an adjoining room, she knelt in supplication and adoration and a bright light shone about her, accompanied by a voice which called 'Dora, Dora!' She answered with awe 'Abba, Father!' when the voice 600 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY answered 'Thou art the beloved of the Lord.' Meantime Mr. Beekman had been awakened and he, too, saw the light and heard the voice. Mrs. Beek- man now claimed to be the manifestation of the Second Coming of Christ, and her followers took the name of the Church of the First Born. They be- lieved that her radiant baptism had made her perfect and called themselves Perfectionists. Mrs. Beekman first made a number of converts at Alpena, Michigan, among them being George Jacob Schweinfurth, a Methodist minister. The churches which she founded at Alpena, Chicago and Paw Paw, 111., St. Charles, Minn., Kansas City, Mo., and Buena Vista, Colorado, with the parent organization at Byron, were designated as the Seven Churches of Asia alluded to in Revelations. In 1882, their founder died at Buena Vista, but when she did not rise on the third day, or, after her remains were brought to Byron, at the end of forty days, "many were sorely perplexed." Mr. Schweinfurth continued the propagation of this strange faith, built a mansion on the Weldon farm, four miles from Byron, and for ten years supported himself and his community in comfort from the proceeds of those who still supported the Church Triumphant, as the organization had been rechristened. But the bubble burst and the Home was abandoned. VILLAGES IN THE NORTHERN AND NORTHWESTERN SECTIONS West of Byron, along the lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, in northern Ogle County, are the stations and villages of Leaf River, Adeline, Forreston, Harper and Bailey- ville. Although the first settlers of Leaf River township located as early as 1837, the village was not laid out until the winter of 1880-81. Its population is now about 400. Adeline, in Maryland township, was laid out in 1845 by John Rummel, the owner of the surrounding land. T. J. Turner, of Free- port, purchased a lot, and the town was named after his wife, Adeline. It was incorporated as a village in 1882, but is still a modest hamlet. Forreston, in the township by that name in the northwestern corner of Ogle County, was platted in 1854 by George W. Hewitt, the site of the village having been pur- chased by him from the original owner, Col. John Dement, of Dixon. To this, he later added three adjoining districts, and the area of the village has since been increased by Neal's Addition and two tracts platted by the Illinois Central Railroad. The main tracks and sidings of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Illinois Central Railroads occupy the additions named. The round house of the Burlington branch is at Forreston, and connections of that line are made at that place with the Illinois Central, and at North Forreston, a short distance to the northwest, with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. The first buildings erected at Forreston in 1854 were a depot and a boarding house to accommodate those working on the Illinois Central Railroad. These were followed by a small grain warehouse, and two other warehouses or elevators were erected within the following three years. Forreston 's first real start was as a favorably located shipping point for grain. It has continued to maintain that position. It has a population of about 1,000 people, with banks and newspapers and other evidences of life and growth. The village was first THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 601 incorporated by special charter in 1868 and under the general law in 1888. Harper, a short distance to the northwest, was started along the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad in 1881. Baileyville, laid out in 1855, on land chiefly owned by Orville Bailey, is a village of some 500 people, the area of which is cut by the line between Ogle and Stephenson counties. It is on the Illinois Central Railroad. OGLE, A FIXE LIVE STOCK COUNTY Ogle County is not only a region of flourishing and growing communities, but is the third of the counties in the Rock River Valley of Illinois when meas- ured by the total value of its agricultural property, including live stock. When first planted to wheat, the lands of the county produced good yields of from thirty to forty bushels per acre. Both winter and spring wheat was then raised. After a few crops were taken, the yield diminished perceptibly, and for a number of years no wheat has been raised for the market, except on newly cleared timber land, where a good crop may be expected. The remain- ing grains — rye, barley, oats and corn — maintain their yields on well cultivated lands. Through the years, the Ogle County Agricultural Society and the Farmers' Institute have been abiding agents in the advancement of agricultural interests. The Society was organized in 1853 and the first county fair was held in October of that year in the courthouse square at Oregon. In 1856, it was held at Byron. Since 1857, the permanent fair grounds have been near Oregon, and additions have been made to their area and to the building accommodations until the locality is the center not only of the usual displays, but of gather- ings held under the auspices of the Old Settlers Association and the Chautauqua Assembly. Ogle County, for many years, has come into special notice because of the pure-blooded live stock bred by its prominent farmers and citizens. One of the first to thus engage on a large scale was Amos F. Moore of Buffalo town- ship. In 1865, he purchased three Morgan horses of pure blood and for thirty- five years confined himself to the breeding of that strain. Henry J. Farwell, of Mount Morris, went to Scotland in 1883 and purchased for his brothers' Texas ranch a large herd of Aberdeen-Angus cattle. He brought a num- ber of them to his own farm south of Mount Morris and thus introduced that variety into Ogle County. James Carmichael of Maple-Hurst Stock Farm, near Rochelle, commenced to breed Shorthorn cattle in 1890. Lyman J. Bird- sail, of that locality, and the Coffmans of Maryland township also have suc- cessfully raised that breed. Among the best known breeders of the Herefords are Southworth & Tigan, whose herd is just outside Rochelle. The Spring- vale Farm of the venerable Judge James II. Cartwright, adjoining Oregon on the north, with its frontage of more than half a mile on Rock River, is among the first tracts of land preempted in that section of the county. From it have come hundreds of fine light-harness horses and not a few racers with good records. Judge Cartwright 's summer residence was built in this pic- tnresqne locality on the spot known in pioneer days as Knox Spring. 602 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY SINNISSIPPI FARM Three miles south of Oregon is the magnificent landed estate of Colonel and ex-Governor Frank 0. Lowden known as Sinnissippi Farm, so called after the old Indian name of Rock River. It comprises 5,000 acres of field, meadow and woodland, graced by the beautiful residence of its owner which has a charming outlook of sweeping river, bluffs and trees. On the lower ground are the buildings for the Percheron horses, Shorthorn cattle and Shropshire sheep. The herd of Shorthorns is exceptionally fine, several of the number having been originally imported from cattle once owned by Queen Victoria. About 1,000 acres of the estate comprise the home farm and the quarters devoted to the breeding of stock, while the remainder is given over to general and experimental farming. Sinnissippi Farm has a long and interesting history. The steps by which Colonel Lowden came into possession of Hemenway Place, the nucleus of the Farm, are thus traced by the late Horace G. Kauffman, the widely known citizen of Oregon and historian of Ogle County: "James Moore entered land from the Government which is now the site of the Lowden home. Luke Hemen- way, who made his start in life in a drug store in Brooklyn, N. Y., and who eventually became wealthy as a ship owner in Jersey City, N. J., came West in the early '40s and in 1843 entered a large body of land. John Carr was the first white man to settle on the section Mr. Hemenway selected as his home place and the creek was named after him. He held the land only under squatter right and, having no money, could not enter it. Mr. Hemenway therefore secured his claim, entered the land, at the same time entering forty acres at one side, which he gave to the dispossessed settler. Mr. Hemenway owned a fine home on the Hudson in New York, where his family resided during his lifetime, he only using his Rock River place as a summer retreat, where he could enjoy hunting and fishing. "On August 23, 1880, the farm was sold to General Franklin D. Callendar, a retired army officer, who lived on an adjoining estate, but never occupied the home. On May 10, 1885, the land, consisting of 576.41 acres, was sold by the Callendar estate to Emma O. Asay, the wife of Edward G. Asay, of Chicago. Mr. Asay was a prominent lawyer and was possessed of esthetic tastes. He occupied the premises and filled the house with a fine library and beautiful bric-a-brac, much of which was collected on his trips abroad. On April 18, 1895, the farm was sold to Lorenzo D. Kneeland, of Chicago, for a consideration of $35,000. He lived upon the property for a few years, and on May 20, 1899, sold the place to Colonel Lowden." The Hemenway house was first remodeled and then razed by Colonel Lowden. A handsome residence was erected on its site, although the walnut woodwork and other interior finish of the quaint old house were retained. Surrounding the house and forming a rich background was the dense and beautiful foliage which gave the new home the name of The Oaks. The building, which was irregular in plan, enclosed a walled garden of vines, plants and shrubs, cluster- ing around walks, seats and a fountain of falling water. One of the strongest attractions of the interior was Colonel Lowden 's large library; a collection of works relating to general literature and history, as well as to scientific farming and the raising and care of thoroughbred stock. It was an individual and THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 603 general misfortune, when, in the fall of 1924, this library was destroyed by fire, which also seriously damaged thai portion of the residence in which it was located. THE ROCK RIVER FARMS At Byron, a few miles northwardly from the Sinnissippi Farm and also on the Rock River, is the great sanitary dairy establishment widely known as the Bock River Farms. The property, which covers 2,000 acres, was bought by the late Senator Medill McCormick in 1916, and originally consisted of six or seven farms. Its nucleus is the handsome collection of dairy buildings and living quarters comprising the structural plant of the estate. About 900 acres of the property are devoted to the raising of alfalfa, and the cultivation of the standard crops in scientific rotation, while along the Rock River is a stretch of land left in a state of nature; pasture, thicket, woods are com- bined in charming disorder, and wild deer roam unmolested through this beau- tiful tract untouched by human hand or plan. The Rock River Farms have offered a striking object lesson of the value of absolute cleanliness and the scientific sterilization of milk before it is placed upon the market to enter the tender systems of infants and others requiring nature's best food in the nourishment of the human body — the milk of the healthy and careful mother only excepted. The output of the Rock River Farms is so thoroughly safeguarded at every step of its production that it is certi- fied clean by the Chicago Medical Society and goes into thousands of private homes upon the prescription or order of a physician. No attempt has ever been made to make unclean milk safe by pasteurization. The precautionary steps taken by Mrs. Medill McCormick and the active management under her embrace the tuberculin test of all the cows at intervals of from six to twelve months. They are also constantly under the supervision of a competent veterinarian, who removes from the milking herd all cases of udder trouble and other diseases. The farms are inspected monthly, or oftener, by an expert of the Medical Milk Commission of the Chicago Medical Society, and the milkers are subjected to a regular and a thorough medical examina- tion. Samples of the milk delivered are collected at least weekly and examined chemically and bacteriologically. All of the utensils, such as milk pails, cans, coolers, bottles and bottling machines, that in any way come in contact with the milk are sterilized with high-pressure live steam before being filled. All milkers and employees in the bottling room wear clean white suits, and the milkers' hands are thoroughly washed before beginning work and after milk- ing each cow. The udders, flanks, hindquarters and tails of the animals are washed and dried before milking. After being drawn, the milk is immediately cooled to a temperature below 40° Fahrenheit, or to a temperature which pro- hibits the growth of bacteria, double capped in sterile bottles, packed in ice and sent to the consumer. It should be needless to say that the stables at the Rock River Farms are kept scrupulously clean and sanitary. It is inconceiv- able that more precautions to conserve the purity of the milk output could be taken than are enforced at the Rock River Farms. The writer may well conclude this chapter on Ogle County with this Rock River institution which is both a private business and a public good. CHAPTER XXV LEE COUNTY THE KEY-NOTE INTERIOR COUNTY PHYSICAL LEE COUNTY SETTLEMENT BEFORE THE BLACK HAWK WAR ALSO " DAD JOE" SMITH FATHER DIXON, THE INDIAN TRADER FROM THE BLACK HAWK WAR TO COUNTY ORGANIZATION PAW PAW GROVE AND VILLAGES DIXON 's FERRY IN 1836-38 DIXON, POLITICAL SEAT OF LEE COUNTY COUNTY RULE OF COMMISSIONERS' COURT PERIOD LEADING TO DIXON 'S CITYHOOD DR. OLIVER EVERETT INCORPORATED AS A VILLAGE BUILD- ING OF THE DAM AND EARLY MILLS — INCORPORATED AS A TOWN NORTH DIXON AND THE DIXON AIR LINE — NOW COMES THE CITY OF DIXON THROUGH TWO DEC- ADES DEATH OF FATHER DIXON THE DIXON OF THE PRESENT — LEADING OUT- SIDE VILLAGES PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIPS. Lee County, with its area of 742 square miles aud its population of more than 28,000 people, is in the central region of the Rock River Valley of Illinois, and has already figured with prominence in all the topical chapters which have been presented in this history. The object of this chapter is to view and describe the county as a political entity, and to show its people and institutions without relation to the Rock River Valley as a whole. Nature has made it impossible to sever Lee County from the underlying rocks which have determined the pitch and power of the waters which course through the channels gouged out by the glaciers of the north, and the reader has been able to learn the ways of geology in the moulding of the Valley from the headwaters of the Rock River to its exit into the Mississippi. Relics of the primitive races and the movements of the his- toric Indians have been noted, and Lee County has often been brought into the general picture. THE KEY-NOTE INTERIOR COUNTY Prior to, and during the Black Hawk war, the region embraced in Lee County held the keynote to the free movements of both white men and red be- tween the more settled districts of the south and east and the frontiers of north- western Illinois and southwestern "Wisconsin. The pioneers who stand out in rugged relief while the Rock River Valley was being made safe for its develop- ment by the whites have already been etched, and among the most massive of their figures was Father John Dixon. Another chapter has traced in bold outline the evolution of the counties, including Lee, into which the Valley has been carved, both in Wisconsin and Illinois. As man, the gregarious animal, perfected the means by which he could communicate and live with his kind, Lee County took her place with the most enterprising ; and the record readily shows the fact. In the development of agri- 604 LEE COUNTY COURT HOUSE. DIXON GOVERNOR CHARTER'S U><; CABIN AT II AZKLWOOI). LEE COUNTY 606 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY cultural and livestock interests, the county has made a creditable record, in com- parison with the sister counties of the Valley, and, as already stated, in the drainage of Inlet Swamp, Lee County has undertaken the most important enter- prise of the kind in northern Illinois. The bench and bar of the county has been noteworthy for the high grade of their members, and the profession has furnished an unusual number of judges to northern and northwestern Illinois. Those chapters which have mentioned the pioneer schools, churches and newspapers of the Rock River Valley often had occasion to turn to Lee County in completing the record of such higher insti- tutions as were related to this region of Wisconsin and Illinois. In the light of this generally fair outlook, the writer is called upon to fill in some of the details of this enterprising, progressive and interesting political section of the Valley. PHYSICAL LEE COUNTY The first impressions of an individual are his physical characteristics — his stature, his special features, his mannerisms. Applying this first analysis to Lee County — its physical characteristics are varied, pleasing, as well as impres- sive. Its surface presents the quiet beauty of rounded prairies and the rugged grandeur of river bluffs and rocky fastnesses. There are beautiful landscapes clothed with grassy plains, interspersed with pleasant groves and other small areas of timber. Although the surface of the land varies from the swamps of the south to the Rock River bluffs of the north, the county is mainly prairie. In the southwest corner of the county is the Winnebago swamp, which extends in a belt two or three miles in width from the southwest to the northeast, sending out a small branch to the west. These lowlands are fed from the drainage of Inlet swamp, east of the center of the county, which passes to the southwest through Inlet Creek and finally into the Winnebago swamp. These are the headwaters of Green River, which flows southwesterly for a hundred miles, independent of the Rock, which it joins only a few miles from Rock Island. The Rock River itself forms only a small section of the northern boundary of Lee County in the Grand Detour region. On the banks of the parent stream, espe- cially in the vicinity of Dixon, are natural observatories, which made this part of the country not only dear to travelers and lovers of the picturesque but a convenient outlook for white and red men alike. Beginning on the east line of the county, near the southeast corner in the vicinity of Paw Paw, is the commencement of a ridge, which extends westward two townships, then a few miles through Sublette township, where it slopes off to the Winnebago flats. There are other ridges farther to the north which usually disappear in the Winnebago swamp. The greatest depression in Lee County is in the southwest corner, known as the Winnebago lands and now in course of artificial drainage. The natural drain- age is good through the many tributaries to the Rock River on the north and the Inlet Creek on the south. The largest of the latter tributaries is Willow- Creek, which rises in De Kalb County on the east and crossing near the middle of the east line of Lee, continues westward until lost in Inlet Swamp. A few- miles south of this creek, above the village of Paw Paw, is an elevated tract of land which divides the headwaters of Green River from those of Kite Creek. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 607 The latter rises in the southeast corner of Lee County, and running south through Bureau it empties into the Illinois within the holders of Putnam County. The central-west of the county is drained by the Three Mile branch and the Five .Mile (reek, tributaries of the Rock River. The former heads in the vicinity of Nachusa, and meandering westward and passing Dixon three miles to the south, as its name implies, it empties into Rock River near the county line. The Five Mile Creek rises near Eldena, west of the central part of the county, and flowing westward joins the Rock just over the county line in Whiteside County. The Rock River region near Oregon has been poetically described by Mar- garet Fuller; so, in 1841, William Cullen Bryant paid this tribute to the beau- ties of the valley in the Dixon neighborhood: "I have just returned from an excursion to Rock River, one of the most beautiful of our western streams. It Hows through high prairies, and, not like most streams of the West, through an alluvial country. The current is rapid and the pellucid waters glide over a bottom of sand and pebbles. Its admirers declare that its shores unite the beauties of the Hudson and the Connecticut. The banks on either side are high and bold; sometimes they are perpendicular precipices, the bases of which stand in running water; sometimes they are steep, grassy or rocky bluffs, with a space of alluvial land between them and the stream ; sometimes they rise by a gradual and easy ascent to the general level of the region, and sometimes this ascent is interrupted by a broad natural terrace. Majestic trees grow solitary or in clumps on the grassy acclivities, or scattered in natural parks along the lower lands upon the river, or in thick groves along the edge of the high country. Back of the bluffs extends a fine agricultural region, rich prairies with an undulating surface interspersed with groves. At the foot of the bluffs break forth copious springs of clear water, which hasten in the little brooks to the river. In a drive which I took up the left bank of the river I saw three of these in the space of as many miles. One of these is the spring which supplies the Town of Dixon with water; this spring is now overflowed by the dam across the river; the next is a beautiful fountain rushing out from the rocks in the midst of a clump of trees, as merrily and in as great a hurry as a boy let out of school; the third is so remarkable as to have received a name. It is a little rivulet issuing from a cavern six or seven feet high, and about twenty from the entrance to the farther end, at the foot of a perpendicular precipice covered with forest trees and fringed with bushes. "In the neighborhood of Dixon a class of emigrants have established them- selves (in 1841) more opulent and luxurious in their tastes than most of the settlers of the western country. Some of these have built elegant homes on the left hank of the river, amidst the noble trees which seem to have grown up for that, very purpose. Indeed, when I looked at them I could hardly persuade myself that they had not been planted to overshadow older habitations. From the door of one of these dwellings I surveyed a prospect of exceeding beauty. The windings of the river allowed us a sight of its waters and its beautifully diversified hanks to a great distance each way. and in one direction a high prai- rie region was seen above the woods that fringed the course of the river of a lighter green than they, and touched with the golden light of the setting sun. "I am told that the character of Rocfc River is. throughout its course, much as has been described in the neighborhood of Dixon; that its hanks are high and G08 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY free from marshes, and its water rapid and clear, from its source in Wisconsin to where it enters the Mississippi amidst rocky islands." A local writer cannot resist the temptation to add a few points to this de- scription of the poet-journalist of the East. He says: "Adding much to the charming beauty of the Rock River are her numerous islands which divide her waters, and, being carpeted with green tender grass, interspersed with beds of wild flowers, are as beautiful as a cultivated lawn. Some are shaded with for- ests, while the brows of the precipitous shores are fringed with trees of smaller growths, from which the plain stretches across the valley to the bluffs, pre- senting a scene most picturesque. There are not less than twenty-five of these islands in the river's course through Lee County." SETTLEMENT BEFORE THE BLACK HAWK WAR The older settlers of Lee County dated everything from the Black Hawk war — either before or after — and the ante-war period covers, at best, only about four years, and, in the main, this has already been described. Joseph Ogee, the halfbreed, at the instance of John Dixon, the Peoria office holder and mail contractor, established his ferry at the Rock River crossing between that place and Peoria, in 1828. The same energetic and moral gentleman from iNew York also was the means of establishing a post office at that point (Ogee's Ferry) in the following year. In the spring and fall of 1830, as has been noted in preced- ing pages, Dixon bought the profitable ferry, made that point his family home, became postmaster and commenced his long season of trading with the Indians and white men and founding a little social and commercial oasis in this shifting northwestern frontier. During the period covered by his mail contracts, Mr. Dixon sometimes did the carrying himself, but the greater part of the driving was done by men hired by him for that purpose and by his sons, particularly James P. Dixon. As a mail contractor, postmaster, ferryman and trader, John Dixon became the best known and the most honored character in the upper Rock River Valley, if not in northern Illinois; and he brought with him his eastern code of morals which he carried into all his trading operations, irrespective of whether he dealt with white or red men. As is evident by the old account books which are still preserved by his descendants, John Dixon did not forget that he had been trained as a New York business man, and every transaction whether contracted with a wandering Indian or a white traveler, is recorded to the last item. As stated by Frank E. Stevens in his History of Lee County: "Ogee had built a log cabin near the ferry landing, and Mr. Dixon after his arrival added to the building. The ferry landing as operated by Ogee and Dixon was what is now the foot of Peoria Avenue in the city of Dixon. The log house stood about three hundred feet south of the river bank near the present intersection of Peoria Avenue and First Street and upon what is now lots 5 and 6, in block 7, of the original Town of Dixon. The log cabin was in two parts, a one-story structure erected by Ogee and a two-story portion built b} 7 Mr. Dixon. Between the two houses and forming a part of the one-story building was a ten or twelve- foot hallway with a door at either end, facing the north and south. Entering the hall from the south, on the west was the family sitting room and on the east, THE ROCK K1VER VALLKY 609 the travelers' and hired help's rooms, each about eighteen feet square. The furniture of the west room consisted of two beds, a number of chairs and a table extending nearly across the room. The east room contained four beds, one in each corner. Father Dixon lived here until 1836 or LS37, when he moved to a house which stood a few rods southeast of the present location of the Chicago & North -Western railway station. The original log cabin stood until 1845, when it was destroyed. The store room in which he traded with the Indians was in the east part of the cabin, in the two-story portion, and there he sold powder, lead, shot, tobacco, pipes, cloth, blankets, guns, beads, traps, etc., or exchanged them for furs and deer skins, which he would ship to St. Louis, Peoria or Galena. "When John Dixon reached the Rock River and established his house at Ogee's ferry he was forty-six years of age, strong, hearty, vigorous and thor- oughly acquainted with the frontier. He had had ten years' experience in the ^Yest. He had traveled the then new State of Illinois from one end to the other on horseback and on foot. He had met and lived with and among the Indians, had become their friend and was recognized as such by them. Though in the prime of life and in the best of health, his hair was white and was worn long, giving him the appearance of age. The Winnebago Indians, with whom he was always on terms of friendship, called him Nadachurasah, or Head Hair White, which term, in common speech, was soon contracted to Nachusa. The early white settlers not long after Mr. Dixon's arrival at the Rock River began to call him Father Dixon, and from then on he was so termed; and in speaking of him since his death it is usual to so characterize him. An old friend and early settler, John K. Robison, said: 'His personal appearance w r as almost unchanged from 1827 to 1876 (died July 6th of that year), his hair being white during all these years; age dealt kindly with him.' " In addition to operating the ferry, acting as postmaster and carrying on the business of an Indian trader, Mr. Dixon conducted a tavern in his cabin and kept overnight the travelers who w y ere passing between Galena, Peoria and other points. ALSO "DAD JOE" SMITH It is probable that after John Dixon and his family, the first household of white people to be established in what is now Lee County, was that headed by "Dad Joe" Smith. He is said to have located some time in 1830. The fact, with something of the personality of this pioneer, is thus recorded in an old history of Lee County: "About eighteen or twenty miles south, and not far from the present Lee County line, in the south part of the county, another pioneer by the well known name of 'Dad Joe' Smith, had located at a very early day, the date of which we cannot give definitely, but it w ? as, however, prior to the Black Hawk war. and of sufficient length of time for him to become familiar with the Indians of the country, to secure his safety during the Black Hawk campaign. Saving secured the safety of his wife and children, he remained at his home at 'Dad Joe's Grove,' and attended and gathered his crops during the entire war unmolested. He had fought in the battle of the Thames; came to this county with the first emigrants, settled in the shadow of this grove and commenced opening a farm. At the time of the advance of Atkinson's army he served as a 610 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY guide. He was also a spy under command of Zachary Taylor. He was an early settler, and of such long standing that he was rather looked upon as a kind of patriarch in the country. To distinguish him from other Joe Smiths — perhaps a son bearing his father's name — he received the venerable appellation of 'Dad Joe.' Mr. J. K. Robison said of him: 'He was one of the good, jolly men, who had made their homes along the route of the early thoroughfare between Peoria and Galena. 'Dad Joe' had an uncommonly loud voice. It was often remarked in that day 'We knew that they were all well at Dad Joe's, this morning, for we heard him calling his hogs just twenty miles away.' "In the spring of 1832, at the settlement at Buffalo Grove, ten miles up the Galena road, were located Isaac Chambers, 0. W. Kellogg, Mr. Reed and a Mr. Bush, with their families. John K. Robison had joined John Dixon at the ferry, where he settled, and 'Dad Joe,' twenty miles south on the road. These were the way stations on the great thoroughfare of travel from the southern settlements to the Galena mines on the north, and were as oases in the desert to the pioneer traveler." FATHER DIXON, THE INDIAN TRADER When the Regulars and the Illinois troops were following Black Hawk and his band up the valley of the Rock River, John Dixon had a difficult part to play. He was friendly with the Indians and yet throughout the period of the pursuit his house was the headquarters of the distinguished officers and citizens who participated in the campaign. He it was, also, upon whom the armies largely depended for supplies before they could be relieved from Rock Island or St. Louis. It is probable that Father Dixon would not have allowed his family to remain in the theater of hostilities had he not received assurances from Gen- eral Atkinson that the troops would not attack the Indians until after the sol- diers had passed beyond the Ferry. Several years afterward, the National Government evinced its appreciation of the honorable ways in which John Dixon had dealt with the Indians as a trader, in comparison with the loose and immoral methods adopted by other traders. William Barge, long a prominent attorney of Dixon, who married a granddaughter of Father Dixon, has produced various papers originally filed in the Indian Department at Washington when Mr. Dixon presented his claims for damages against the Winnebagoes. As an introductory to several enlighten- ing communications which passed between Mr. Dixon and the federal authorities Mr. Barge writes : "By the terms of a treaty made with the Winnebago Indians in 1837, the United States agreed to pay the debts of these Indians to the amount of $200,000 ; less, certain items of no importance here, and commissioners were appointed to ascertain what the debts were, to whom owing and then to pay them. The commissioners, James Murray, of Maryland, and Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, met the Indians and the claimants at Prairie du Chien in 1838. They were instructed by proper authority to require the claimants to produce their books, showing the accounts they sought to collect and to file transcripts of them, showing names of the debtors, dates, articles and prices. While the credits were given to the individual Indians they, after the lapse of a year or two, depending on the hunting, became and were recognized as debts of the tribe. ■- w o M o > - - - > r: o 2. - as Vol. 1—39 612 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Practically all credits were supervised by the chief of the band and he could limit the credit. The commissioners soon found they could not comply with their instructions, as the traders, with a very few exceptions, had no books and knew nothing of bookkeeping. The commissioners then inquired of Indians and white men old in the trade, and thus learned the manner of extending credits to the Indians. They took the testimony of men well acquainted with the trade, heard the claimants and Indians, and made a settlement that was formally ap- proved by a committee of Indian chiefs. "The claims allowed exceeded the money available and the creditors re- ceived a dividend of 93.17 per cent on the amount of their claims as allowed. Of the ninety and more claims presented only seven were allowed in full, and one of these was the claim of John Dixon for $2,298.25. They were paid in full, pro rata, James P. Dixon receipting for his father's claim. * * * "Many claims were reduced as much as fifty per cent and some disallowed entirely. The settlement provoked a vigorous controversy and a reexamination was had, but the result was the same. The chief controversy was over payments to half breeds on their accounts not involved in any claim for merchandise. ' ' Mr. Dixon's first complaint to the War Department was made in 1830 and was as follows: "Rocky River, Ogee's Ferry, Jo Daviess Co., 111. "Hon. William H. Eaton "Secretary of War ' ' Dear Sir : — I should not have intruded on your valuable time so much as to have asked you to read a statement of my wrongs, if a redress could be obtained without it. More especially, when I consider that the amount involved is a trifle Avhen compared with subjects that engross your attention. "During eighteen months previous to January last, I was engaged as sub- contractor for carrying the mail from Peoria (Fort Clark) to Galena (Lead Mine), which route was established by Congress and had to pass through an Indian country, eighty miles of which was inhabited by a single white person, and crossed Rocky River at this place, then the residence of a large band of Winnebago Indians who had never been under any restraint. On one occasion they robbed a driver of all his provisions and feed for his horses and in many instances were very troublesome. But I complained to General Street, their agent at Prairie du Chien, who promptly sent the sub-agent to protect me. I made no claim for remuneration; but the injury of which I complain and ask remuneration is this — that in October, 1829, they took a stage horse from me out of the stables of Mr. Oliver W. Kellogg, one of the night stands about half way from Rocky River to Galena. The driver came very near losing the trip ; was prevented by hiring a horse at a very high price. I then had fifteen horses on hand and had only about two months to prepare. Still, I had to purchase another, greatly to my disadvantage. "Last summer when General Clark was at Prairie du Chien holding a treaty with the Indians, Mr. Kellogg went there to lay the evidence before him, and if I am rightly informed the General gave it as his opinion that I should get my pay in the fall when the Indians received their annuities. Judge, then, of my surprise on receiving a letter this day from General Street, dated Prairie du Chien. 3 Dec. 1830, in which he says : ' I forwarded your claim and have never THE ROCK RIVKK VALLEY 613 heard from it since' He then advises me 1<> write to General Duncan and for- ward my evidence anew, and ask him to attend to it. But although] I am, poor, I have a spirit above begging, and if I cannot get justice at the front door I shall not creep in at the back window. "I keep the ferry where the mail crosses Rocky River and Post Office. The place is called Ogee's Perry. I have suffered considerably by the theft of these same Indians. They have taken a cow out of my ferry canoe and about 100 bush- els of corn, besides many other articles of less value. The chiefs acknowledge that their yonng men have done it, but say that they cannot prevent them; because the white men promised to pay them money once a year for their land and never gave them notice to come and get it, but gave it all to those that lived near the two agencies. "I am satisfied that they have just cause of complaint on this score. There is at this time much hard feeling between the whites and Indians. The reports in circulation are to this effect — that if the Indians come forward before their agent and acknowledge a theft, it has no effect in procuring recompense, and that the agent is not to notice it. This, and the delay in getting pay for my stage horse, has caused me to be silent with regard to other wrongs. "The inhabitants generally have become very much exasperated. I have no doubt but there will be murder committed, as they continue to steal horses and other property, and the people are led to believe from the reports above referred t<>. that there is no other way to get satisfaction but to take the law in their own hands. "About two months since, they took a valuable horse from Colonel William Hamilton, son of the late Alexander Hamilton. He went out and took four of theirs, and on his way home saw an Indian on his horse. He pursued and fired his pistol at the Indian, but missed him. The Indian then left the horse and was off. There have been other instances of people collecting to chastise them, and unless the idea of the necessity for them can be done away, it will termi- nate in a serious disturbance. I am satisfied that if they have a suitable agent within a reasonable distance of their residence all difficulties with them would cease. The services of Or. Williamson, sub-agent of the Sacs and Foxes, can be of no benefit. He thought he had jurisdiction over them and called them to counsel ; but they would not recognize him in that capacity. The residence of the two principals is altogether too remote to have control over that portion of the nation that inhabit Rocky River and Picatolica (Pecatonica) country. "After writing the foregoing my business called me to the Mining Country. During my stay there, I heard two of the Indian chiefs teasing Col. Wm. S. Hamilton to write to the President for them. After a while he consented and wrote for them through the medium of an excellent interpreter. I signed it as witness. The picture they drew of their distress and bad treatment I think is nearly correct; but their number I believe to be overrated. I think there is not more than about 1,200 of them. They had that letter written about four weeks since. Their distress has now become double what it was then. The win- ter has been for about fifty days the severest that has been known for fifty years. About forty families are now in this immediate vicinity. For about thirty days they have had nothing but what I let them have from day to day. If my corn gives out before the snow abates they must die with hunger, unless I kill my 614 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY cattle for them. They cannot remove to the settlement, for most of their horses have died and the balance they have brought to me to feed, to save them, if pos- sible. It is now the third of February, and it is snowing with great violence. If that snow should continue for twenty hours longer, all that I have will be gone and they will perish. They are continually complaining of the bad faith of the government towards them, and I believe it is only the influence of Mr. Henry Gratiot, brother of Mr. Charles Gratiot of the Engineering Department, that keeps them quiet for the present. He has more influence with them than all the people in the Mining Country ; for although he is severe with them still they respect him, and much stolen property has been removed from them by his exertions. "The length of my letter admonishes me to stop and request you to answer me with regard to my claim, which I have almost forgotten. "With sentiments of respect "Your Obt. Servant "JOHN DIXON." The foregoing is such a characteristic letter and conveys such a clear idea of the difficulties with which Father Dixon had to contend during the period imme- diately preceding the Black Hawk war that it is quoted entire. After the war had ceased in which he bore so prominent a part, although not engaged in the actual fighting, he is found writing to General Joseph M. Street, Indian Agent at Prairie du Chien, as follows : "Dixon's Ferry, Illinois, July 8, 1833. "Dear Sir:— "Ever since the late treaty at Rock Island I have been constantly endeavor- ing to get the Winnebagoes to remove peaceably across the Mississippi above Prairie du Chien. In the fore part of the winter they appeared willing to go, but this spring they tell me the Sioux will not permit them to occupy the coun- try called the Neutral Ground. Whether this is true or not, I cannot tell, but think it may be a fabrication put in circulation by the basest part of creation in the vicinity of Fort Winnebago. I have just returned from there, where I witnessed such scenes produced by whiskey peddlers as is calculated to make an American blush for his country. If they remain there, they are destined to become the most miserable beings in human shape. Cannot something be done to remove them? Will not the government, on a proper representation, take such measures as will prevent any men not of good character going among them ? The evil of granting licenses to men of infamous character, and whose aim ap- pears to be to set them against the American people and government, should not be tolerated. As a philanthropist and a Christian, the public have a right to expect much at your hands; for I am persuaded that nothing stands between them and civilization but the whiskey traffic, which can be prevented by their removal, and that, I assure you, may be easily accomplished." In forwarding this letter to Elbert Herring, superintendent of Indian affairs. General Street wrote, among other things: "I herewith cover you a letter from a practical man of sound discrimination, long a trader with these Winnebago Indians on Rock River. He is an American opposed to giving whiskey to Indians, had the confidence of General Atkinson during the late Indian difficulties, and THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 615 went the whole route with his army. The removal breaks up his trade, and he dors not mean to follow the Indians." FROM THE BLACK HAWK WAR TO COUNTY ORGANIZATION The crushing of Black Hawk and his followers, with Father Dixon's high reputation in trade and character, directed the attention of prospective settlers to Ogee's Ferry as a likely town site. Mr. Dixon prepared for their coming by opening a school in his house in the winter of 1833-34. In the meantime, the children of his own large family organized into quite a respectable class. In 1834, the name of the post office was changed from Ogee's Ferry to Dixon's Perry and a government survey was made of the township of Dixon. The town- ship then embraced South Dixon, Nelson and a part of Nachusa. John Dixon, early in 1835 laid out the first plat of the Ferry on the northeast quarter of sec- tion 5, township 21, range 9 ea.st. Described in more popular terms it included a tract of land from the river to half a block south of Third Street and from a point half a block east of Ottawa to half a block west of Peoria Street. John K. Robison, an Ohio man who made his home with Mr. Dixon in May, 1832, taught the first school composed principally of Dixon and Kellogg chil- dren. He had served in the Black Hawk war and liked the region around Dixon's (then Ogee's) Ferry so well that he decided to board with Father Dixon. Zachariah Melugin also came up the Rock River Valley with the State troops, and after the war was over his pleasant memories of Father Dixon and the coun- try at the Ferry induced him to take the advice of his friend and locate in a beautiful grove twenty miles to the southeast on the new stage road between Galena and Chicago. He built a cabin and his sister kept house for him from January to October, 1834, when he married a lady from De Kalb County. In the meantime, Miss Melugin got lonesome, although she busied herself tending her brother's house and "ehoring" around his stage station, and during the summer of 1834 paid Mrs. Dixon a visit at the Ferry. There she met Mr. Robi- son, the ex-soldier and school teacher, and in September the twain were made one by a Methodist circuit rider. The wedding occurred at Mr. Melugin 's home, and half a mile away Mr. Robison built another log house for his new bride. Both Robison and Melugin became prominent in the affairs of the county; and the name of the latter has become permanently attached to one of the most beau- tiful groves in the county, as well as to the township of Melugin's Grove. In fact, the first settlements of the county were made in or around the beauti- ful groves which dotted the country, especially along the borders of its streams. Melugin's Grove, Guthrie's Grove, Franklin Grove, Inlet Grove, Twin Grove, Paw Paw Grove, Palestine Grove and Gap Grove were settled long before the fertile prairie country was selected. Timber was a prime consideration with the 'pioneer settler; hence the groves were first selected in the founding of home- steads. In 1833 and 1834, a settlement began in the southern part of the county in what is now East Grove Township. In the spring of 1834 settlers commenced to locate at Sugar Grove, now in Palmyra township, in the northwestern part of the county. In April of that year improvements were opened in that locality by Isaac Morgan and his sons, 616 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Harvey and John, and they were joined by a number of families, among whom were those of Captain Oliver Hubbard, Samuel Fellows and John H. Page. In 1835 came Absalom Fender, with a large family, and also W. W. Bethea. The sons of John H. Page many years afterward established the great condensed milk factory at Dixon, while Solomon H. Bethea, son of William W., became a prominent lawyer and judge. In May, 1834, Adolphus Bliss commenced a settlement at Inlet Grove, in the northwestern part of what is now Lee Township. He came in May of that year and was joined soon after by Ozra Wright. Joseph Sawyer, Daniel M. Dewey and Charles West joined the settlement in 1836. Lee County of today was then a part of Ogle, and as Inlet Grove was on the Chicago-Galena stage road, two of these pioneers sought a little money by opening taverns on its line. Sawyer took out the first license and Bliss, the second, and each paid $10 for the privileges accorded them. These were the first licenses of the kind ever issued by the commissioners of Ogle County, John Dixon, Corydon R. Dewey and Zachariah Melugin, and were dated March 6, 1837. At the same meet- ing. Inlet was set off as an election precinct, and that was the beginning of Inlet village, which later became the headquarters of the infamous Banditti of the Prairies. The tavern kept by Bliss was a favorite meeting place of the gang, several of whom, such as Bliss, Dewey and West were known as reputable and leading citizens. It was West who finally exposed the criminal conspiracy, of which he himself was a large part. PAW PAW GROVE AND VILLAGES In the southeastern part of what is now Wyoming township is one of the largest and most beautiful groves in Lee County. A small tree or shrub grows freely in this wooded tract, and bears a sweet edible fruit, somewhat like the banana in flavor, but often larger in size; this is the papaw, or pawpaw. It was always a favorite gathering place of the Indians — here was Shabbona's village — and early travelers reported that the locality was so charming and healthful that it was the great resort of the red men in this region when the squaws were raising the papooses. From the northeast corner of Paw Paw Grove, the creek by that name runs through it in a southeasterly direction and after making a junction with Indian Creek empties into the Illinois River. On the east side near the county line was an excellent spring which never froze over, and on the northwest corner was another. Both were ever constant and furnished large volumes of water as feeders to Paw Paw Creek. The sugar maple was very abundant. There were many large black walnut trees, four kinds of oak, hickory and cottonwood, with a sprinkling of butternut and sycamore. The prairie grass of this region was remarkable in quantity and quality, while in the lowlands a rider on horseback could tie the tall, rank slough-grass together above his head. Yet the entire region even outside the grove was very healthful and free from ague. The grove was about three miles long and two in width, contained about two thousand acres, and what was remarkable, although dense, it was free from underbrush. It was natural that the first white settlers in this part of the county should select Paw Paw Grove and the country about for their homes. In the winter of THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 617 1833-34, Levi Kelsey, a peddler, with one Joel Griggs, made a claim and built a house in Paw Paw Grove. Tracey Reeve came in the spring of 1834 but, unlike Kelsey and Griggs, concluded that the Grove was reserved for the Indians and did not settle there, but located in what are now Bureau and La Salle counties. David A. Town, a Vermonter and an emigrant to Ohio, located in Paw Paw Grove in the fall of 1834, building his house on its southeast edge. He was accompanied by his wife and four children, but in the following year moved to tlic north end of the grove. Town was determined, persistent and strong, ooth physically and mentally, and held township offices, being otherwise locally prom- inent prior to his death in 1861. The settlement begun by Town was augmented the same fall by the arrival of the Harrises, Edward Butterfield, John Ploss and John Wilcox. They were all members of a Michigan colony, of which Rev. Benoni Harris, then past sev- enty years of age, was the head. Besides Father Harris and his equally aged wife, the emigrants comprised eight grown-up children. Three of the Harris daughters were married to Messrs. Butterfield, Ploss and Wilcox. Butterfield was a soldier of the Black Hawk war, and was the means of inducing the Michi- gan colony to locate at Paw Paw Grove. His claim was on the south side of the Chicago road in the outskirts of what is now Paw Paw village, while Ploss made an improvement on the south side of the grove, which led to the settlement of South Paw Paw. In 1836, Job Alcott arrived and built his cabin equi-distant between the two Paw Paws. This and the Butterfield cabin were the only houses on the south side of the Chicago road for many years. Charles Morgan, wife and seven children, probably came from Virginia the same year, and in 1837 was keep- ing tavern half a mile east of David A. Town's house. William Rogers, the first postmaster, settled also in 1836, and had his office near Morgan's tavern. Jacob 1). Rogers, who located in 1837, was a Pennsylvanian. He located west of George Town's claim out on the prairie, for which he was much ridiculed. His claim included the west, part of the site of Paw Paw. . DIXON 'S PERRY IN 1836-38 In the meantime, what of Dixon's Ferry? Many things happened from the time Father Dixon surveyed his town until Lee County secured her political independence from Ogle. They have been repeatedly recorded in numerous local publications, generally accessible, but the pronounced stepping stones to the present can only be indicated in this sketch. By 1836, there were half a dozen families and about as many single gentlemen on the site of Dixon. On the north side of the river was the small log building thrown up by Zachary Taylor, while his "regulars" were encamped at the Ferry during the Black Hawk war. It "was fittingly called Fort Dixon. The Galena stage road ran to the westward. James P. Dixon had erected a log house near the corner now occupied by the City National Bank and Jude W. Hamilton, the merchant, had built the first frame house in town just across the street. The Dixon's Ferry of September, 1836, has been described by a settler of that period (Dr. Oliver Everett) as a place of four log houses, a frame house, a blacksmith shop and two or three houses in course of construction. Father Dixon's original log house was located 618 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY two or three rods north of Main, and was occupied by the store and a tavern. A log house stood on the corner of Galena and Water streets and was occupied by Colonel Johnson as a boarding house. Another log house stood on the corner of Water and Ottawa streets and was built by Dr. Forrest. The post office was represented by a lean-to about ten feet square, which was built up against James P. Dixon's log house "on the north side of Main Street, and was still operated by Father Dixon." The village blacksmith shop and "bachelor apartments" of John Wilson were covered by one roof a few yards east of the post office. Father Dixon lived "out in the country" on his farm near where the North Western depot is now situated. Other leading suburbanites were Caleb Tall- madge, who lived on the Peoria road about a mile south of town; Stephen Fuller, who resided on Dr. Everett's farm, and George A. Martin and E. W. Covill, who occupied farms on the north side of the river. In December, 1836, was organized the County of Ogle, then including Lee, and Dixon's Ferry was already coming up as a settlement in its southern sec- tion which would not down at the behest of Oregon, or any other rival of the north. In the winter of 1836-37, Peter McKinney and H. Thompson started the Western Hotel, afterward the Huntley House; as they also had charge of the tavern in Dixon's original log house they were quite prominent as hotel men. In September of the latter year the first circuit court of Ogle County was held in Wilson 's remodeled blacksmith shop ; an event suggestive of future honors for Dixon's Ferry. Another hotel, the Rock River House, also appeared. In the summer of 1837, the first schoolhouse (erected as such) arose as a frame structure, at least twenty by thirty feet, and for several years was used for a variety of public purposes. Organized religion was brought into the community by the Methodists in that year. The people established a Claim Association through which to enforce their homestead rights; its members constituted a pretty complete directory of the Dixon region of that time. In 1838, the new schoolhouse was opened to teachers and pupils, as well as for any other community uses. H. Bicknell was the first teacher to preside therein. This schoolhouse in Dixon was so famous for the public, political and religious gatherings which assembled there, that it is continually cropping out in the general chapters connected with the history of the Rock River Valley. Even some of its teachers became notable men. DIXON POLITICAL SEAT OF LEE COUNTY The brisk fight between Oregon City and Dixon for political honors when Lee County was a part of Ogle has already been described ; as well as the final compromise which resulted in the separation of Lee. Frederick R. Dutcher, of Dixon, was the leader of the separatists and engineered the bill through the Legislature. He named the county in honor of Light Horse Harry Lee, of Revo- lutionary fame, and not, as claimed by some local historian, for Robert E. Lee, of the Confederacy. The act was approved February 27, 1839, and the com- missioners appointed for the purpose selected Dixon as the county seat. The place at which the county buildings were to be erected was staked on the west THE ROCK RIVER VALLKY 619 half of the nort Invest quarter of section 4, township 21, range 9, and the east half of the northeast quarter of section 5, same township and range. The pro- prietors of the town guaranteed the payment of $6,460 and other citizens, $1,050, while eighty acres of land were also deeded for public purposes. At an election held on the first Monday of August, 1839, Charles P. Ingals of Inlet, Nathan R. Whitney, of Franklin Grove, and James P. Dixon, of Dixon, were elected the first Commissioners' Court of Lee County. Isaac Boardman was clerk of the court. Aaron Wakely was elected sheriff; Joseph Crawford, comity surveyor; PI. Morgan, probate justice; G. W. Chase, recorder. The county commissioners held their first session in the Dixon schoolhouse on Sep- tember 13, 1839, the respective terms of the three commissioners were determined, and the county was divided into six election precincts, with designated judges. In October, an election was held at which were chosen two justices of the peace and two constables for each precinct. The first assessor of the county, John Morse, was appointed in March, 1840, and in the following June David Tripp was chosen its first collector. During the year 1840, the brick courthouse and the county jail were completed on the public square at the specified cost of $7,610 and eighty acres of land, the cash being donated by the c/tizens and the land by Father Dixon. Thus the county machinery was set in motion and buildings provided for its early crude operation. COUNTY RULE OF COMMISSIONERS' COURT The county form of government dominated by the Commissioners' Court was not changed for a decade, but the legislative act approved February 12, L849, provided for the organization of townships. Each township was repre- sented by a supervisor for each town, or township, the combined membership being known as the Board of Supervisors. The original townships created by the act to replace the old election precincts were Paw Paw (changed soon after- ward to Wyoming), Brooklyn, Hamo, Lee Center, Bradford, Hamilton, Amboy, Tremont (replaced by China), Dixon and Palmyra. PERIOD LEADING TO DIXON 's CITYHOOD The tireless John Dixon went to Washington to push the already good pros- pects of his town and brought back with him a government order transferring the United States land office from Galena to Dixon. Colonel John Dement, one of the heroes of the Black Hawk war, and subsequently a prominent figure in the public affairs of the city and State, was appointed receiver when the transfer was made and retained the position under several democratic administrations. The establishment of the land office at Dixon was a great stimulus to settlement; so much so that Joseph Crawford at once extended the original plat of the town and other portions of the county felt its effects. In 1840, the population of Lee County had reached the respectable figures of 2,035. In 1841, a small stone building on the corner of Ottawa and Second streets, opposite the resi- dence of Dr. Oliver Everett was built and was used for the brisk business of the land office during a period of four years. 620 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY DR. OLIVER EVERETT The name of Dr. Everett often occurs in the pages devoted to the city and county; for he was a lovable, useful, learned and marked man. He came to Dixon in 1836 and for fifty years administered to the sick in body, mind and estate, over a wide expanse of country, in fair weather and foul. Money was little object to the good doctor; the alleviation of pain, in what- ever form, his chief concern. Dr. Everett was a thorough geologist and his long travels over every section of Lee County particularly fitted him to write with authority (as he did) of the physical construction of the region with which he was so familiar. He was also a faithful collector of natural history specimens and of rare American coins. But aside from the affection and admiration lavished upon him as a "country doctor," he is best remembered for what he accomplished in the preservation of the facts relating to the local history of the Dixon and Palmyra region of northwestern Lee County, his condensed "Chronological Record," published by the Dixon Telegraph in 1880, being still invaluable for those who would get a picture of the country and its people before them up to that year. It was said by an elderly Dixonite whom Dr. Everett had brought into the world: "In that long and busy practice, he assisted something like five thousand children into this world, and it is with pride that I place my name in the long, long list of children who so early greeted the good old doctor, whose presence and assistance at such a period were so important." INCORPORATED AS A VILLAGE By 1843, the Town of Dixon aspired to don village clothing, and on the 20th of March of that year forty-four of its citizens, being all who voted, cast their ballots for village incorporation. In 1845, the village reached a population of 400 and was represented by the Methodists, Baptists, Episco- palians and Congregationalists as religious organizations. The Methodist church building, on Second Street south of the Public square, had been dedicated for a couple of years and a Union Sunday School was holding forth therein. In these early days of forced economy sectarianism often had to be forgotten. Local education, in 1845, was represented by a select and one district school, with a total attendance of seventy-five pupils. At that time, the total popu- lation of the county was 3,282. In the autumn of 1846, the first brick building was commenced at Dixon on Main Street, west of the present Lee County National Bank. In the suc- ceeding winter a toll bridge was built across Rock River at the foot of Ottawa Street, and for several years thereafter it was a favorite plaything of the spring freshets. The Evangelical Lutherans commenced to organize in August, 1848, and five years later they founded the St, Paul's church. In Ma.y, 1849, the Baptists dedicated their first house of worship on the west side of Ottawa Street near Main. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 621 BUILDING Of THE DAM AND KAlil.Y MII/LS In 1850, Dixon received an impetus from the inauguration of the hydraulic works only to be compared to the establishment of the land office a decade before. At the request of the Rock River Hydraulic Company, made to the Commissioners ' Court in the preceding year, the sheriff had summoned a jury of citizens to determine what, if any, damage would result to abutting prop- erly by the building of a five-foot dam across Rock River. The "good men and true"' examined the matter and reported that a benefit, instead of dam- age, would result, and the dam was therefore built in 1850. In the same year a sawmill was erected on the north side of the river, and a large flouring mid was commenced on the south side. These manufactories were soon fol- lowed by other mills, by a foundry and machine shops. About this time, a local writer made mention of Dixon in this wise: "There is a dam across the river at this place, furnishing one of the best waterpowers in the State. A sawmill is already in operation on one bank and a large flouring mill is about to he erected on the other. Measures are also being taken to construct a bridge over the river at this point, which is now crossed by a good rope ferry, which is operated night and day. These considerations, together with the fact that several stores and dwellings are now in process of erection, that stages meet here from almost every direction, and that a branch of the cen- tral road is soon to pass through the town to Galena, conspire to render Dixon one of the most desirable places of residence in the Western country." In May, 1851, the population of Dixon was estimated at 700 or 800. There was then in the thriving village a printing office — the Dixon Telegraph and Lee County Herald had just been established — eight or ten stores, and several professional men and mechanics in all departments of trade, two church buildings, three hotels, a livery stable and a market. From this time until the war, Dixon improved with great rapidity. During the early '50s, Dr. Everett and Colonel Dement were very prom- inent in the affairs of Dixon. The Doctor was president of the convention which met at Dixon in March, 1852, to consider the project of building a railroad from that village to the Mississippi River at Fulton, Whiteside County, and Colonel Dement, having ably served in the State Constitutional Conven- tion of 1848, was now devoting much of his time to the development of the industries of the village. In December, 1852, the large five-story flouring mill erected by Brooks, Dement & Daley (afterward Becker & Underwood's mill) commenced grinding corn. [NCORPORATED AS A TOWN The outstanding events connected with the history of Dixon for 1854 were its incorporation as a lown and the completion of the Xaehusa House — a stone hotel which stood upon "round which embraced the foundation of the old Dixon Hotel. The latter got no farther than the foundation, for the hard times of 1S:57 during which the enterprise was conceived did not allow it to advance beyond the launching. For many years it was the leading hotel in Dixon, where such as Lincoln and Douglas, Holmes, the poet. Patti, the song- 622 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY stress, Grant and Logan, the warriors, Moody, the evangelist, and scores of other celebrities, "put up," in their travels up and down the valley. When it was rebuilt and extended as a modern hostelry in 1914, it was still the lead- ing hotel in Dixon and it maintains its old-time reputation to this day. "Ye Old Nachusa Tavern," capping an imposing eminence, is one of the noted landmarks of the valley. In June, 1854, the epidemic of cholera, which was so widespread, visited Dixon and for about a month played havoc there, nearly forty deaths being re- corded. But the danger and the panic passed and the set-back was only tempo- rary. In the coming fall, much building was reported — brick business houses and churches. A new paper, the Dixon Transcript, made its appearance. Colonel Dement established a machine shop. NORTH DIXON AND THE DIXON AIR LINE North Dixon, especially, had been growing with marked rapidity, and in December, 1854, completed what was then a large and convenient schoolhouse with a seating capacity of 130 scholars. Best of all for Dixon as a whole, in February, 1855, trains commenced running from Chicago over the Dixon Air Line, and in the following May the town commenced to earn its name as a center of higher education by the opening of the Collegiate Institute in charge of Rev. W. W. Harsha. Its own building was completed in July. At first the Dixon Collegiate Institute was in charge of the Presbyterian Church. In November, 1855, the new Union school was opened on Peoria Street, and a local scribe says: "The old wooden desks were discarded at this time and the first patent school furniture introduced into our schools." The popu- lation of Dixon was 3,054. There were 130 buildings erected in town during the year 1855. Dixon, like all other intelligent and progressive centers of Americanism in the Rock River Valley was intensely agitated over the vital national issues of 1856. In June of that year at an Anti-Nebraska meeting, a society was formed for promoting the settlement of Kansas by assisting bona fide emigrants to that territory. A Preemont club was active in town. In the fall it was ad- dressed by James K. Edsall, formerly a member of the Topeka (Kansas) Legislature which had been dispersed by President Pierce. He had located in Dixon, having been barred from Kansas, and was active in keeping the political fires alive. NOW COMES THE CITY OF DIXON Although factories, churches and newspapers were springing up on every side, it is evident that the people of Dixon were not yet ready to adopt any kind of a city charter just for the sake of the name; for in February, 1857, a proposed instrument of that nature was rejected by the voters, 96 to 279. Events of 1858 worthy of note: Opening of a reading room in charge of the Young Men's Literary Association; a High School department established in the old Methodist church on Second Street; a more acceptable city charter adopted at a special election, on the 4th of December. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 623 On March 7, 1850, the City of Dixon was organized by the election of the usual municipal officers. The aldermen-elect were: W. H. Van Epps and Joseph Crawford, First ward; II. E. Williams and R. H. Robinson, Second ward; William Barge and A. A. Benjamin, Third ward; W. A. Hoisington and William Peacock, Fourth ward. A. P. Curry was elected city marshal, and C. V. Tenney police justice. Colonel John Dement, the mayor-elect, failing to qualify, Joseph Crawford was appointed acting mayor by the Council. An election was then ordered for April 4th, when A. C. Steadman was chosen for the mayoralty. The vote on the license question stood 297 against and 171 for license. THROUGH TWO DECADES In the fall of 1859 — to be exact, on the 14th of October— Dixon experienced its first large conflagration. Measured by the fires of today, it would seem small ; but seventeen buildings on both sides of Main Street were swept away, causing a loss of over $30,000. They were nearly all retail stores. About the same time, occurred a structural accident of rather a remarkable nature. Colonel Dement 's two plow factories and a Mr. Brookner's sawmill, which stood on the north side of the river near the dam, were underwashed by the current at the river's brink; and while the buildings were slowly moving toward the river, where the water Avas twenty feet deep, the machinery and every- thing portable were taken out and the buildings set on fire to save the two bridges below, which it was thought would be damaged by the descent of the timbers against them. On New Year's Eve, 1861, a large and enthusiastic party was held at the Xachusa House to celebrate the opening to the public of the Free Bridge at Dixon. At 4 o'clock P. M. of the 1st, the mayor and Council in sleighs and cutters — and other prominent citizens — passed over the bridge "under the inspiring influence of music and cannon." The Free Bridge, rendering access to Dixon so much more convenient, stimulated business and made the local merchants cheerful, notwithstanding the threatened civil upheaval caused by sectional quarrels. During the period of the war, manufacturing interests made but little ad- vancement in the city. In 1864, Messrs. Fargo, Pratt & Company commenced the manufacture of platform scales. Other industrial enterprises were suc- cessfully worked during the dark days of the rebellion; but the absorbing na- tional problems, the scarcity of laborers, the small demand for certain indus- trial products, affected Dixon disastrously, as they did every other inland town in the country. But no sooner had the war closed and the country re- turned to the employments of peace than the spirit of enterprise was again manifest in the city and county. Before the end of the Civil war, in which Colonel Dement participated, several events occurred which had a bearing on the local history outside of military matters. The Dixon Air Line dropped its local name and was ab- sorbed as a part of the great Chicago & North- Western system. This occurred in June, 1864. In January, 1865, the Lee County National Bank was organized with Joseph Crawford as president. 624 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY After several years of readjustment, new industries commenced to be estab- lished, although during the last year of the war Colonel Dement erected a large stone building afterward occupied by the plow factory of Charles H. Curtis. In the fall of 1865, both woolen and grist mills were built, and in the summer of 1866 Colonel Dement again appears in the local industrial field as the builder of the flax factory, which soon developed into the manu- facture of bagging by Jerome & Downing. The foundation of the industry which centers in the manufacture of the Victor platform scales was laid in August, 1867, and about the same time the courthouse was enlarged and im- proved. Two noteworthy public improvements were completed in January, 1869 — another large public school building in North Dixon, and the dedica- tion of the Truesdell iron bridge. The bridge, which was the best over Rock River, cost $75,000. In 1870, the census of Dixon showed a population of 4,054, and of the county, 27,252. The chronology of the following decade embraces the following happen- ings: The City Hall building completed for the use of the Fire Department, in January, 1871. Dixon National Bank organized, in September, with H. B. Jenks as president. Collapse of the Truesdell Iron bridge, on May 4, 1873, caused by its over- crowding by a mass of people who had gathered to witness a baptismal in the river just below. Two hundred men, women and children were thrown into the rushing stream, and thirty-seven of them were killed by drowning or by portions of the bridge falling upon them, and forty-seven others were seriously and five mortally injured. The bridge was twisted and broken from end to end, and hung from the piers. DEATH OF FATHER DIXON Father John Dixon died at his farm in the outskirts of the city, on the 6th of July, 1876, aged ninety-one years, eight months and twenty-eight days. His body was taken to the courthouse in Dixon, where it lay in state until the funeral. In the newspapers published at that time it is stated that up- ward of ten thousand persons attended the funeral, the courthouse square and the streets adjoining being crowded to such an extent that the voices of the speakers at the ceremony could not reach the outskirts of the crowd. This book has been thickly sprinkled with eulogies of this Christian, useful and hardy patriarch. On September 18, 1878, Alexander Charles Charters, another noted pioneer, died at his home at Hazelwood farm, aged seventy-eight years. He came to Dixon about 1838 and purchased the pleasant site upon which he founded his homestead. On April 8, 1880, occurred the most disastrous fire that had ever visited Dixon. Early in the morning of that date, the conflagration started at the waterpower and within an hour, the flax, grist and flouring mills were in ruins. The water wheels and the pump house were also destroyed, cutting short the water supply. Brown & Edward's foundry, on the opposite side of the street, Y* > _ ; -1^ <* i j&r'ii % e 1 f> By^^k ** ft 1 BTrfii' •r— ■*■ 1 1 ' w ^ HL i fr '"M * > i I S ( 1 V *l E .1 fJ* v/ 1 *£ i | • -«ki 1 ■ ! *- — 626 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY was badly burned and the Curtis plow works caught fire several times. The arrival of the Amboy fire company probably saved the property on the south, side of the street. Two firemen were killed and ten others badly burned and injured by an explosion at Becker & Underwood's mill. Here was also the heaviest loss in property, over half of the estimated $190,000. THE DIXON OF THE PRESENT As the City of Dixon has developed into a thriving and progressive munic- ipality of more than 9,000 people, it is manifestly impossible to trace in detail the development of all its institutions — its schools, its churches, its industries and banks, or even its growth as a city body. The foundation of many of these has been traced in this chapter, and the strong features of its present activities may also be noted in the chapters devoted to the topics indicated. From all these sources, the deduction is rightly drawn that Dixon is most desirable as a residence town. The distributing point for the electric power of much of Northwestern Illinois, with many well-established factories that practically never cease operation, good schools, firmly supported churches, splendid artesian water and beautiful homes and grounds, with over thirty miles of paved streets — in these important points alone, Dixon unfailingly draws attention to itself as one of the most desirable residential centers of the Rock River Valley. The City of Dixon has large lungs, or breathing spaces for its people. Besides various small parks within the city limits, are Island park of sixty-four acres, in the Rock River; Assembly park of forty-seven acres on the north bank, the headquarters of a great Chautauqua assembly, with all the modern accessories; Adelheid park, in the western fringe of the city, and most notable of all, Lowell park of 200 acres, located on Dixon Park Boulevard, about four miles from the down-town district. It adjoins historic Hazelwood, the rustic home of Governor Alexander Charters, that rare old Irish gentleman — one of several polished and educated entertainers, who came to the Dixon neighbor- hood in the late '30s and made the region famous for its welcoming hospitality. Lowell park was the noble gift of the widow of Brigadier General Charles Lowell. It has a frontage of three-quarters of a mile along Rock River, which is liberally supplied with hills, crags, deep ravines, fine trees and shrubs, and its unspoiled natural beauties are all attainable by improved roads and paths. Pavilions, bathing beaches and houses, and conveniences for picnic parties and other pleasure seekers, make Lowell park Dixon's most attractive and popular resort. Two miles north of the city is the golf course of the Country Club and autoists and others have at their command a well-appointed parking camp. In a word, everything tends to maintain and accentuate the old-time reputation of Dixon as a comfortable, elevating and enjoyable city of prosperous people. THE LEADING OUTSIDE VILLAGES It is claimed that a Frenchman named Filamalee was the first settler in Amboy township, west of the center of the county, and that he lived in Pales- THE HOCK RIVEB VALLEY 627 tine grove about a mile south of Rocky Ford. He left the country as soon as permanent white settlers commenced to arrive, and .John Dexter, a Canadian who made his claim and built his cabin on the northwest quarter of section 13, is given the credit of being the first permanent resident of the township. He came in 1835, and two years later Asa B. Sears came up the Peoria road with Benjamin Wasson and a team of horses and laid out Binghamton, a mile east of the present City of Amboy. Afterward Rocky Ford, to the southwest of the site of Amboy, was founded by Frederick R. Dutcher, Joseph Farwell settled on the northeast quarter of section 22 in the late '30s, and in 1854, when the Illinois Central was building toward Freeport, the machine shops were located at Amboy and the town was laid out. Then Binghamton, which had become quite a flouring center, collapsed. The Amboy of today is a little city of about two thousand people, the freight terminal of the Illinois Central, the seat of the Lee County Fair and a pretty, growing little place. It was originally incorporated as a city under a special charter dated Febru- ary 16, 1857. Ashton township and village are of comparatively late settlement. It is said that the reason for this was that the land in this part of Lee County was so rich that speculators bought nearly the entire township and barred out those who would have bought homesteads at an early day. The result was that Erastus and Timothy Anderson were its first settlers ; and they did not locate until 1848. Other reasons for the absence of settlers was that Ashton township — which was included in Bradford until 1861 — was undesir- able prairie land, devoid of timber, and no great road or trail traversed it. The entrance of the Galena & Chicago Union railroad in 1854 changed the comparative isolation of the township and gave birth to the village itself (platted in 1853 as the Town of Ogle). The village of Ashton is a little community of nearly a thousand people, on the Chicago & North Western railroad a few miles south of the Ogle County line. It has suffered a number of disastrous fires since 1863, but is still going ahead. Both the village and the township have given much attention and money to the building of good roads. Franklin Grove, a village of perhaps seven hundred people is in the north- eastern part of China township, on the Chicago & North Western railroad not far from the Ogle County line. In 1834, Jeptha Noe built the first cabin at Franklin grove, a stretch of timberland along Franklin Creek. In June of the succeeding year, Colonel Nathan Whitney, of Uniontown, Ohio, traveled along the north side of the grove, searching for a stream of running water as far as the present site of the village of Franklin Grove. As Colonel Whitney became a settler soon afterward, he is regarded as the John Dixon of China township. Charles Harrison and his son-in-law, James Holly, made the first two claims in 1835. The history of China township from 1834 to 1854 is the record of about twenty pioneer families, including the Whitney, Hussey, Hel- mershausen. Holly, Minor, Morgan, Yale and Harrison families. In 1853, Arastus W. Tolman, F. D. Robertson and Rev. Christian Lahman laid out the village of Franklin Grove. The name was given to the town by John Dixon in honor of his son, Franklin. It is said that Colonel John Dement had an interest in the new village for several years. What is known as Sublette township, in the southern part of Lee County, Ot—l l°A 628 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY was right in the course of the old army trails and later stage lines, and its settlement was therefore early. In 1837, Jonathan Peterson and Sherman L. Hatch first took up homesteads in the township, but returned to the East, married and brought their wives to the sites of their claims before they settled permanently thereon. Others came from New England and founded their homes. In 1844 and 1845, Jacob Betz and Mathias Reis settled near the timber known as Perkin 's grove ' and were the founders of the industrious, German agriculturists who have spread over Sublette township and made it one of the richest sections in the county. In 1849, the county was divided into town- ships instead of precincts. This township was named Hamo. When the Illi- nois Central went through the county, it named the station near the center of the township Sublette, and it was platted by the railroad company in May, 1855. The name struck the fancy of the settlers, and during the winter of 1856-57 a petition was sent to the Legislature through John V. Eustace to drop from the township the name of Hamo in favor of Sublette. The change was therefore made. The township of Lee Center has the questionable distinction of having founded one of the wickedest and one of the most intellectual villages in Lee County. The rise and fall of Inlet, as the center of the Banditti outrages, as well as the rise and decline of Lee Center as a promoter of higher education have already been narrated. In 1844, the wicked combinations of Inlet fell before an aroused and organized public sentiment and a few miles to the north- east arose the Lee Center Academy and the village of culture. Lee Center village was planned in 1846 and, with the erection of the academy and the fall of the Banditti, Inlet left the map. The village has long ago been bereft of its fame, and is little more than a small settlement of about three hundred people. There are three other towns or railroad stations in Lee County dating from the '70s, which are due for mention. Their range in population is from 200 to 400. Stewart is in Alto township, in the extreme northeast corner of the county, and is at the junction of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul lines. The town site was selected by "Wesley Stewart on his lands and he platted the village in 1870. The village of West Brooklyn was platted in August, 1872, on lands belonging to Oliver P. John- son, Demas L. Harris and Reuben N. Woods. These three gentlemen were large land owners in what was then western Brooklyn township ; hence the origin of the name West Brooklyn. West Brooklyn village is a station on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line, as is Compton, a few miles east, which in 1873 succeeded the older settlement at Melugin's Grove. The C, B. & Q. had passed about a mile to the south of the Grove and spoiled its chances for future growth. Harmon, also a station on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, in the western township by that name, was laid out in May, 1872, by D. H. Wicker, J. S. Meckling, Alonzo Kinyon and C. G. Wicker. PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIPS Lee County of today is organized into twenty-two townships, as follows: Alto, Amboy, Ashton, Bradford, China, Dixon, East Grove, Hamilton, Harmon, THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 629 Lee Center, Marion, May. Melugin's Grove, Nachusa, Nelson, Palmyra, Rey- nolds, South Dixon, Sublette, Viola, Willow Creek and Wyoming. Jn 1850, the county was divided into the ten civil townships of Amboy, Bradford, Brooklyn, Dixon, Hamilton, Hanno, Lee Center, Palmyra, Paw Paw and Tremont. Prior to July of the same year, the name Wyoming was sub- stituted for Paw Paw and China, for Tremont. In 1850, when Lee County adopted township organization, Hamilton embraced what are now East Grove, May, the south half of Marion and what is still called Hamilton township. May was organized from the original territory in 1856, Marion in 1859 and East Grove in 1865. Willow Creek township was organized from Wyoming in 1855. Hanno relinquished its old name of Hanno for that of Sublette, the new railroad station on the Illinois Central, in 1857. The same year Harmon township was organized, followed by the creation of Reynolds in 1859. Ash- ton township was carved from Bradford in 1861, and the same year Alto, Ogle and Viola were erected by the Board of Supervisors. In 1867, South Dixon, at the request of the agricultural element, was separated from Dixon township, and in 1871, Nachusa was created from both Dixon and China town- ships. At a still later date, Melugin's Grove township displaced Brooklyn. Which accounts for all of the twenty-two townships into which Lee County is now divided. CHAPTER XXVI WHITESIDE COUNTY water courses and drainage — name and organization of county — commence- ment op the county seat fight — then sterling gains a point — lyndon again to the front a futile compromise 1 — sterling holds the county seat for eight years real permanent county seat township organ- ization — swamp lands of the county the coming of the railroads — pioneer agricultural society — early villages of the county — the vil- lage of fulton first newspapers in whiteside county sterling and rock falls two cities in a nutshell — the city of morrison incorpo- rated as a city — county buildings — morrison of the present — morrison municipal building charles bent and the whiteside sentinel prophets- town albany and erie — lyndon and tampico — whiteside county in the wars — whiteside's standing agriculturally. Whiteside County is in the lower valley of the Rock River, northeast of Rock Island County. It has an area of 679 square miles and a population of 36,174 people. The northwestern part of the county is hilly, consisting of a succession of ridges, some of them quite sharp and rising to an elevation of a hundred feet, separated by narrow valleys ; the central portions are moderately rolling, and the southeastern part of the county is quite level. Swamp land, sloughs and marshes formerly covered the last named districts, but most of this area has been drained and placed under productive cultivation. WATER COURSES AND DRAINAGE The general slope of the county is to the west and south, which determines the watershed and the drainage. The Rock River flows in a generally south- westerly direction through the eastern, south-central and southwestern sections, and after a course of fifty miles through Whiteside County, leaves the county at its southwestern corner, flows along the northwestern boundary of Henry County, passes through Central Rock Island County and empties into the Mis- sissippi about four miles south of the City of Rock Island. The principal tribu- taries which join the parent stream in Whiteside County both rise in Carroll County, to the north. Elkhorn Creek rises in eastern Carroll County, flows gener- ally in a southwesterly course and falls into Rock River about seven miles below Sterling; its two branches are Sugar and Grove creeks. Rock Creek also rises in the eastern part of Carroll County, a few miles southwest of the source of the Elkhorn, flows in the same general direction and joins the Rock about a mile east of Erie; the tributaries of Rock Creek are Little Rock and Lynn creeks. Independent creeks are Grove, which flows into Rock River west of Spring 630 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 631 Creek; and otter and West Spring, in the northwestern part of the county, which empty into the Mississippi. The highest lands in the county are in the northeastern part, drained by Sugar and Spring creeks, and probably attain an elevation of 800 feel above sea-level. The Mississippi bluffs are from 90 to 150 feet above the river. NAME AND ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY Whiteside Comity was named in honor of General Samuel Whiteside, a brave and distinguished officer, who participated in the Indian wars in this section of the country, from 1812 until the close of the Black Hawk war. During the lat- ter, he was first major, afterward colonel and finally general of volunteers. In his pursuit of Black Hawk, in 1832, he passed through Whiteside county and burned Prophetstown. General Whiteside was a native of Rutherford County, North Carolina, came to Illinois Territory about 1836, and settled in what is now Madison County. Besides holding high military rank in the volunteer serv- ice. General Whiteside was frequently elected and appointed to civil offices of trust and honor. He died in 1861, and was buried near the home of his daughter in Christian County, Illinois. Whiteside County was brought down to its present boundaries, through Taze- well, Peoria and Jo Daviess, and during the period from 1825 to 1836, inclusive. On January 16th of the latter year its present limits were fixed, and it was attached to Jo Daviess County for general election purposes and to Ogle County for judicial and county purposes, until it had perfected its own organization. In the spring of 1836, the County Commissioners' Court of Jo Daviess County divided Whiteside into three election precincts, and appointed judges of election over them. Elkhorn Grove precinct embraced what afterward became the town- ship of Jordan, Whiteside County, as well as several townships in Ogle, Lee and Carroll counties. Harrisburg precinct comprised the present townships of Sterling, Coloma, Montmorency, and Hahnaman, and the east half of Hopkins, Hume and Tampico, the election to be held at the house of Hezekiah Brink, in Earrisbnrg (now Sterling). Crow Creek precinct comprised the remainder of the county, the election to be held at the house of William D. Dudley, in Lyndon. At the August election for representative to the General Assembly 78 votes were cast, in these three election precincts. In September, 1836, Burke's precinct was added to the three original divi- sions, and included the present towns of Portland and Erie, while in the follow- ing year the commissioners of Jo Daviess made another alignment of election precincts. Prom this time until May, 1839, when Whiteside County elected its first officers, other changes were made in precinct names and boundaries, and local legislation was enacted applying to its present organization. The General Assembly also located several State roads which passed through Whiteside County. The act of March 11, 1837, located the road from Galena to Beardstown, on the Illinois River, by way of Apple River; Savanna, at the mouth of Plum River, Carroll County ; Prophetstown, on Rock River, Whiteside County ; Hen- derson and Knoxville, Knox County, and Rushville, Schuyler County. In 183 ( J the General Assembly located a State road which ran through the western por- tion of Whiteside from Albany south to a point on Green River and thence to 632 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY an intersection with the State road from Beardstown to Galena. During the same year the State road was resurveyed and relocated a short distance near Prophets- town ; and all these surveys and improvements were advantageous to the new county of Whiteside. The declaration of independence by which Whiteside severed its connection with Ogle and thenceforth was a distinct political organization, was the election of its officers, on the 6th of May, 1839, which resulted as follows : Nathaniel G. Reynolds, Elijah Worthington and John B. Dodge, commissioners; James C. Woodburn, sheriff; Daniel B. Young, probate justice; David Mitchell, county treasurer; Charles R. Rood, surveyor; Augustus W. Newhall, recorder; Ivory Coleord, coroner; Guy Ray, clerk of County Commissioners' Court. The first meeting of the court was held at the house of William D. Dudley, in Lyndon, on May 16th, and the new officials duly qualified. On the following day, they met at the schoolhouse near Mr. Dudley's cabin, and laid out eleven road dis- tricts, as well as appointed supervisors and assessors. COMMENCEMENT OF THE COUNTY SEAT FIGHT The first act of the General Assembly in relation to locating the seat of jus- tice for Whiteside County was approved February 21, 1839, by Governor Thomas Carlin. By that measure the voters were to voice their sentiments on the first Monday in May, of that year, at the time that they selected the county officers. In the event of more than one place receiving votes another election should be held in four weeks, and so on, until some one place should receive a majority of all the votes cast. No place having received a majority of the votes, at the first election, four more attempts were made to settle the contest, and it was not until Sep- tember 23, 1839, that Lj^ndon was successful. Although the proprietors of the rival towns of Harrisburg and Chatham, on the Rock River in the eastern part of the county, had adjusted their differences, and made a bid for the county seat under the new name of Sterling, Lyndon, near the center of the county, won — at least temporarily. This was the commencement of a fight for county seat honors which was waged between Lyndon and Sterling for nearly twenty years, only to be decided finally by Morrison, a new town which was about as far north from the center of Whiteside as Lyndon was south of it. The town thus designated as the county seat (Lyndon) was admirably located for the purpose. Nearly in the center of the county, a short distance beyond Prophetstown on the north shores of Rock River, it had a fine water power at its disposal and was for years one of the most promising points in the Valley. The County Court had been meeting there since May, 1839, and in February of the following year a contract was made with Thomas C. Gould for the erection of a one-and-a-half story courthouse, 26 by 17 feet on the ground, for all the usual purposes for which such a structure is put. THEN STERLING GAINS A POINT The new town of Sterling was biding its time to make another attempt to draw to itself the seat of the county government. The proprietors of the town formerly known as Harrisburg had offered sixty acres, and the owner of the DETAIL PICTURE OF STERLING WATER POWER THIRD STREET IN 1868, STERLING 634 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY defunct town of Chatham, twenty acres, the total tract to be donated for the public purposes of the county, as well as $2,000, provided the public buildings be placed on Block 58, west of Broadway — that being a central position in the compromise town of Sterling. Sterling had claimed that Lyndon had secured the location through the action of a majority of the commissioners in rejecting one of the election precincts, which justly should have been counted for the former. In February, 1840, a recanvass of the votes, in which the disputed pre- cinct was given to Sterling, was the means of transferring the county seat to Sterling. Announcement to that effect was made by the Commissioners' Court on April 8, 1841, and a month later it commenced to meet at the new seat of justice. LYNDON AGAIN TO THE FRONT In the fall of 1842, Lyndon again had a majority of the county commissioners as its supporters, and in December of that year again became the seat of jus- tice. In 1843, the General Assembly reopened the question, and appointed com- missioners from Jo Daviess, Henry, Ogle and Mercer counties to locate the seat of justice for Whiteside. Three of the five commissioners met at Albany, White- side County, to examine the different locations and decided that Lyndon had the advantage over all. Lyndon then donated forty acres of land for public pur- poses, but no county buildings were erected on the tract, and the county seat question was still unsolved. A FUTILE COMPROMISE Then, on April 14, 1846, the county commissioners entered an order that the grand and petit jurors elected at the March term should attend the May term of the Circuit Court at Sterling, instead of Lyndon, as the public buildings erected at the former place had been accepted and none had been erected at Lyndon. A compromise was effected by which the terms of the Circuit Court were held at Sterling and the county commissioners held their sessions at Lyndon. Then the fight became merrier than ever. Lyndon was determined not to yield to the order of the commissioners without a struggle, and through two of her citizens, applied for a mandamus compelling the commissioners to relocate the headquarters of the Circuit Court in their town; at the county seat last selected under authority of the Legislature of the State. The court refused to grant the writ on the ground that the buildings used for county purposes at Lyndon were not upon the ground donated for that purpose, as required by statute. Sterling made the next move, and the General Assembly passed an act, ap- proved in February, 1847, making that place the seat of justice until the county should pay that town for the lands and money donated as an inducement to locate the county seat there. Therefore, the seat of justice was removed to Ster- ling, the first meeting of the Commissioners' Court being on September 7, 1847. The courthouse at Sterling had been finished and furnished for county and judi- cial purposes, so that comfortable and convenient quarters were afforded to Til K HOCK MY Eli VALLKY 635 all having business with the county or the courts. But as no steps were taken by the county to reimburse the town of Sterling, the arrangement was still a temporary matter. STERLING HOLDS THE COUNTY SEAT FOR EIGHT YEARS Under such circumstances, Lyndon took the offensive to have the Legislature declare the ''permanent" seat of justice of Whiteside County. On February 6, 184!». a Legislative act was approved providing for an election to be held on the first Tuesday of the following April, to determine whether the permanent county seat should be at Lyndon or Sterling, "the latter place being the then tem- porary seat of justice." The election resulted in the eleven precincts casting a vote of 519 for Sterling and 451 for Lyndon. Lyndon's main support came from the precinct in which the town was situated and the adjoining precincts of Prophetstown and Portland to the southwest, while Sterling drew from its imme- diate territory to the northeast, as w r ell as from Union Grove, Albany and Round Grove precincts, in the western and northwestern portions of the county. For eight years Sterling remained undisturbed as the county seat of Whiteside. REAL PERMANENT COUNTY SEAT In the meantime, a new rival had appeared in the field and, since the rail- roads of Illinois were up and going, it was no longer necessary that the seat of justice should be located on Rock River. The Chicago & North-Western line had been pushed through Northern Illinois and the town of Morrison surveyed and platted as a growing village. In October, 1855, the young town welcomed its first railroad train, and within two years the future of Morrison was assured. Although Lyndon had been relegated to the background of county seat aspirants, young Morrison pressed her claim so vigorously that the issue became a question not as to the choice between several towns but solely between Sterling and her- self. So that when the act of the General Assembly relating to the issue was approved February 7, 1857, the vote cast at the ensuing general election was only to decide whether the seat of justice was to be moved from Sterling to Morrison. In case of a vote favorable to Morrison, it was stipulated in the act that a tract at least 300 feet square should be donated by the town to the county in section 18, as well as the sum of $.'5,000, to be used for public purposes and the erection of county buildings. The canvass was exciting and the vote east was very close. Sterling carried strongly the northeastern townships of the county and had a decisive majority in Lyndon, while Morrison drew its strength mainly from the northwestern town- ships, having stanch support from Fulton and Albany. The total vote for removal was 1,631 ; against, 1,572. As Morrison has retained the county seat for nearly seventy years, this seems a good point to take an account of historic stock, and review some of the most important events connected with the development of Whiteside up to this time. TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION In 1819 an election in Whiteside County was held for the purpose of ascer- taining the sentiment of the voters on the desirability of changing the county 636 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY form of government from that of the Commissioners' Court, with the political division of election precincts, to that of township organization under the juris- diction of a Board of Supervisors. The vote cast showed a strong sentiment for the township form, and in the following year the county was divided into twen- ty-four townships. On account of some illegality that action was declared void, and on November 4, 1851, another election carried township organization by a vote of 376 for, and 144, against. The new and legal townships were laid out by the commissioners appointed for the purpose — L. D. Crandall, L. H. Wood- worth and William Pollock — and were reported, on February 24, 1852, as fol- lows: Pulton, Ustick, Clyde, Genesee, Jordan, Sterling, Montmorency, Coloma, Hahnaman, Hume (formerly Jackson), Como (formerly Homer), Hopkins, Tampico, Volney (formerly Washington), Prophetstown, Portland, Erie, Fen- ton (formerly Eden), Lyndon, Mount Pleasant, Union Grove, Garden Plain, Albany and Newton (formerly Greenfield) — twenty-four in all. The first annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held at Sterling, September 13, 1852, and W. S. Barnes, of Albany township, was elected chair- man. SWAMP LANDS OP THE COUNTY The swamp lands of Whiteside County, mostly situated in its eastern and southeastern townships, were secured through an act of the General Assembly approved June 22, 1852, and based on a congressional act of 1850 authorizing the various States to convey such lands, for purposes of reclamation, to the counties having them within their limits. After the necessary levees or drains had been constructed from the fund raised by the sale of swamp lands, if there was any balance the proceeds should be used for purposes of education, the con- struction of roads and bridges, or such other objects as might be deemed expedi- ent by the courts, county judge or Board of Supervisors. Under this act, the Board of Supervisors, at their March term in 1855 ap- pointed William Pollock drainage commissioner. There were three sales, in 1855, 1856 and 1857. Altogether nearly 64,000 acres were sold, the proceeds of which amounted to $167,000, of which one-quarter was in cash and the balance in notes. Some other sales were afterward made, making the entire area of swamp lands thus disposed of 70,000 acres and the proceeds $177,000. THE COMING OP THE RAILROADS Whiteside's first railroads entered the county in the late '50s, about two years before Morrison became its seat of justice. Its pioneer line, the Galena & Chicago Union, was headed toward the Mississippi River, via Rockford and Freeport, in the early '50s, and later the Dixon Air Line was projected directly toward Whiteside County. In the fall of 1855 Sterling, Morrison, Fulton and other points in the county to the Mississippi River were connected by rail, and Whiteside was no longer entirely dependent on Rockford, Freeport and Dixon as markets of supply. Since 1856, the lines formerly known as the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis, running through the Rock River Valley; the Western Union, traversing the western part of the county; LOOKING ALOXC SE(X)ND STREET, ROCK FALLS VIKW ON MAIN STEEET, MORRISON 638 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the Mendota & Prophetstown branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and what was called the Rock Falls branch of the latter, terminating at Rock Falls, have added to the transportation facilities of the county. The Chicago & North- western and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads have, for seventy years, given Whiteside County its only transportation service worthy of the name. PIONEER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY The Whiteside County Agricultural Society was organized in the village of Union Grove on the 26th of February, 1856, the following being elected its first officers : Robert L. Wilson, president ; A. R. Hamilton, vice-president ; Dr. L. S. Pennington, secretary, and Luther Dodge, treasurer. The annual fairs of the society were held at Morrison until the year 1863, when the grounds were located on the Rock River, a short distance southwest of the City of Sterling. The county fairs have since been held at that place. EARLY VILLAGES OP THE COUNTY Nearly all the villages in Whiteside County which have lived and prospered were founded prior to 1858, and the pioneer settlements made in the townships in which they are located were generally made in 1835. The exceptions, in which settlers commenced to come at even an earlier period, were Fulton town- ship, in which locations were made in 1833, and Sterling and Prophetstown, the histories of which date from 1834. THE VILLAGE OP PULTON In 1832, John Baker, a native of Maryland, was driven from New Orleans by the cholera and decided to follow the Mississippi northward and seek a favorable town site. At a point a few miles below the present village of Albany he found a government surveyor who was running his lines on the east bank of the river from the mouth of the Rock River to the northwest corner of White- side County. Baker went farther up the river, made a claim a short distance above the Albany of today and built a cabin there on the banks of the Missis- sippi. Then he commenced to explore the country, and in the spring of 1835 located a claim on the Narrows, covering the site of the city or village of Fulton, as well as a tract of land east of town. For the first year, he lived alone, as he had done on his claims near Albany. Baker erected a small house on Cattail Creek, which for some time was the headquarters of travelers seeking locations in the Mississippi Valley, either in Illinois or Iowa. John W. Baker, a nephew of the original John, joined his uncle in the fall of 1836, and brought with him his wife, three sisters and a niece. The three sisters were soon married, although the niece died soon after her arrival. More than twenty male settlers, some of them with families, added to the crude town in 1837. Others followed until the settlement was quite noticeable. In May, 1839, a number of its citizens presented a petition to the commissioners against THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 639 granting a license for the sale of liquor — 'the first temperance movement in Whiteside County. The original owners of the real estate upon which Fulton now stands were •John Hakei-, Henry C. Fellows, James McCoy, Alvin Humphreys, George W. Kellogg, John B. Jenkins, Daniel Reed, R. J. Jenks, Jeremiah Humphreys, Lyman Blake, John VY. Baker, Edward Rolph and some others. The land \v;is purchased of the government in 1840. Fulton was organized as a village in 1855 and its first trustees were Henry C. Fellows, Dr. W. C. Snyder and Dr. A. W. Benton. In 1859, it became a city under a special charter granted that year by the General Assembly. Its first mayor under that organization was James Mc- Coy. The Chicago, Fulton & Iowa line (Chicago & North- Western) had been opened to Fulton in December, 1855; the Western Union (Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul) at a somewhat later date. Fulton became widely known for its lumber interests and numerous sawmills were erected. Afterward the Chicago & North-Western Railroad and others erected large grain elevators. Fulton is still one of the four largest towns in Whiteside County. It has a population of about 2,500 people, and its schools and churches are well regu- lated and supported. Its religious organizations date from 1854 and 1855, when the Congregationalists and Baptists first formed societies. The Fulton Methodist circuit was established in 1856, although services were held by mis- sionaries years before. Of later date is the strong Dutch Reformed congregation. FIRST NEWSPAPER IN WHITESIDE COUNTY In the days when Fulton and Albany promised to be booming river towns, those reckless newspaper men, as was their custom, flocked into the borderland of what is now Whiteside County in order to be early in the field. During the early period of 1853, Judge James McCoy and John Phelps concluded that Ful- ton needed a newspaper, and in the fall of that year went to St. Louis and Galena and bought a press and type with which to start the newspaper and a job printing office. The press was shipped so late in the season that the steamer which carried it had to go into winter quarters at Rock Island. It was not until the spring of 1854 that the outfit was on the ground at Fulton. Judgs McCoy could expound law and Mr. Phelps could sell goods, but neither knew anything practical about getting out a newspaper or printing hand bills and letter heads. So they imported A. McFadden, a practical printer, from Free- port, nnd in May, 1854, he put out the Investigator, the first newspaper issued in Whiteside County. This was the predecessor of the Fulton Weekly Courier and the Fulton Journal, the latter having been issued under its present name since 1863. STERLING AND ROCK FALLS Sterling and Rock Falls lying on either side of the Rock River are twin com- munities of between 12,000 and 13,000 people, with a great waterpower, a com- plete transportation system, both by rail and canal, and one of the largest and most progressive industrial centers in the Rock River Valley. Sterling took its rise from the combination of the two villages of Harrisburg 640 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and Chatham. In June, 1834, Hezekiah Brink erected a house of logs and rifted lumber in what is now the First Ward of Sterling. He was soon afterward joined by others, and the settlement began its career. In the summer of 1836, Captain D. S. Harris, of the steamer Pioneer, came up the river with a load of provisions and landed above the rapids, the settlers assisting with their ox teams in towing the boat over them to a landing point. A quantity of these provi- sions was sold to the settlers, and for payment the captain took a half interest in the town, which was then, in his honor, named Harrisburg. Immediately, Captain Harris, Elijah Worthington, Hezekiah Brink and others, had the town surveyed and platted. The town was bounded on the east and north by the city limits ; on the west by what is now Vine Street, Sterling, and on the south by Rock River. Very soon, a petition went forward to Washington for the estab- lishment of the Rock River Rapids postoffice wih Hezekiah Brink as postmaster. Mr. Brink declined the honor and with his declination the idea of a postoffice was abandoned. Some error having been discovered in the first survey of the town of Harrisburg, it was resurveyed and replatted in 1837, and one of Cap- tain Harris' agents built a store on its site which was opened by Worthington & Brink. Several dwellings were also erected, so that Harrisburg commenced to make quite a showing. In the spring of 1835, William Kirkpatrick, who owned a mill and a large claim on Yellow Creek, near Freeport, made a claim and built a cabin at the "rapids." The settlers of Harrisburg gave him a cold shoulder, claiming that he had all he could do to develop his interests near Freeport, and that he was an adventurer and a land shark. Their suspicions were allayed when he entered into a $1,000 bond with several substantial citizens to lay out a town at the rapids of Rock River during the following year. This he did, and in the spring of 1836 he platted the town and called it Chatham. Mr. Kirkpatrick himself erected the first frame house in town, hauling the lumber for it from his mill on Yellow Creek, forty miles distant. Nelson Mason and John D. Barnett soon purchased the interest of Mr. Kirkpatrick, improved his frame house and opened a store of assorted goods, which was well patronized by white settlers and Indian transients. Chatham also had to be surveyed again, on account of faulty work on the original plat. Both Chatham and Harrisburg were platted and the sur- veys recorded before any of the townships were divided into sections by the gov- ernment surveyors and several years before the land was placed on the market. Chatham was bounded on the east by what is now Cherry Street, Sterling, on the north by the city limits, on the west by A Street of today, and on the south by the river. In June, 1837, a postoffice was established at Chatham called Rock River Rapids, with John D. Barnett as postmaster. The postoffice was kept in Mason & Barnett 's store. Harrisburg afterward secured the institution, but about 1841, when E. B. Worthington was postmaster, the latter bought land on the intermediate strip between the rival towns and established the postoffice i what afterward became Broadway. As early as 1839 a contract was let, but never carried out, to construct a canal around the rapids at Chatham. In the early part of 1840 Sterling was without a store, Mason & Barnett having gone out of business and their successors re- mained only a short time, when they moved to Albany. But the two weak little towns united in their successful fight for the county seat, and after taking 642 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY the name of Sterling, progress was continuous, although slow until the railroad era. Since the fall of 1855, when the Galena & Chicago Union entered its limits, it has been growing as a modern community and an industrial and business cen- ter. Unlike most other towns, Sterling did not organize as a village previou ; to its incorporation as a city. On February 16, 1857, it was organized as a cit by an act of the General Assembly approved that day. Its first municipal offi- cers were elected in the following April, as follows : Lorenzo Hapgood, mayor ; John Pettigrew and David H. Myers, aldermen of the First ward; Henry Bush and D. R. Beck, aldermen of the Second ward, and James Gait and B. G. Wheeler, aldermen of the Third ward. On the 23rd of April, the Council elected L. King Hawthorne, city clerk; Edward N. Kirk, city attorney, and Winfield S. Wilkinson, city surveyor. In 1854, the Sterling Hydraulic Company built a dam, making the water power available and giving the city a permanent lease of industrial life. Three years afterward, the plat of Rapids City was entirely vacated. In 1867 A. P. Smith, a native of New York and a man of energy and sagacity, moved to the neighborhood from Sterling and laid out the town of Rock Falls. He at once began the construction of a race connecting with the dam of the Sterling Hydraulic Company, and around this improvement the new town clustered. Bridges were built connecting Sterling and Rock Falls in 1857 and 1863, but they were swept away in whole or in part by floods and about 1877 a substan- tial iron bridge was constructed for $40,000. It extended from the foot of Mul- berry Street, Sterling, to Bridge Street, Rock Falls, a little east of the Industrial building. This was replaced finally by the modern handsome concrete bridge now in use which was built at a cost of $180,000. With the gradual development of the two water power dams, the industries of Sterling and Rock Falls have increased in number and volume of output. Among the earliest established were the Sterling Pump Works started as a private enterprise by M. C. Bowers in 1863 ; a small wagon shop, the origin of the Anchor Works, also established at Sterling, in the same year ; the Sterling School Furniture Company, organized in 1869, and the Williams & Orton foun- dry and machine shops, the business of which was incorporated in 1871 ; as well as the Empire Feed Mill Company and the Sterling, Mineral Paint Company, both organized in the early '70s. At Rock Falls, Gait & Tracy erected a machine shop in 1867, which was the foundation of the Keystone Works; the Keystone Manufacturing Company was organized in 1870, with Thomas A. Gait president, and G. S. Tracy, vice president and superintendent, and became one of the largest manufacturing plants in the Rock River Valley. Its agricultural imple- ments went all over the United States and to the southern Americas. The Rock Falls Mitten Factory was put in operation in 1869, and in 1871 the Eureka Manufacturing Company commenced to put out a variety of articles such as furniture and minor agricultural implements. Its chief output at the present time consists of motor vehicle bodies. As the two cities have now more than forty manufactories, it is manifestly impossible in this sketch to trace the establish- ment and growth of them all. It may be stated, however, that altogether they employ four thousand men and women, and that their products include every- thing for which there is an American call. Jjjj JJjjjj jjj Tnr: CENTEAL SCHOOL, STERLING V. M. C. A. BUILDING, STERLING Vol. 1—41 644 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY TWO CITIES IN A NUTSHELL Population :— 1920 census: Sterling, 8,182; Rock Falls, 2,927. Estimate, 1924: Sterling, 9,000; Rock Falls, 3,300. Sterling has commission form of government; Rock Falls, aldermanic form. Water supply from four deep wells of Sterling Water Company, which dis- tributes to both cities. Motor fire protection, including new triple combination pump, hose wagon and truck. Twenty-five miles of brick and concrete paved streets. Park district recently voted and new park system being developed. Post office receipts of Sterling and Rock Falls, $90,000 annually. Six hotels ; one new and others recently improved. Sterling has 2,600 homes; Rock Falls, 800. Community served by one newspaper, the Sterling Daily Gazette, which was established as the Republican in July, 1856. Sterling and Rock Falls are also served by six banks — five of them being located in the former city. The Sterling banks are : The First National, estab- lished in 1870 ; Sterling National, 1882 ; State Bank, 1906 ; First Trust & Sav- ings, 1916; Farmers & Merchants, 1922. The First National Bank of Rock Falls was founded in 1902. The strength of the banks in the two cities is illus- trated by these late figures : Capital, $600,000 ; surplus and undivided profits, $519,000 ; deposits, $5,648,000. Educational: Modern township high school and new parochial high school in Sterling ; new community high school in Rock Falls. Good grade schools ; one large new one in Sterling and another being built. Large business college in Sterling. Twenty- two church organizations, with edifices valued at over $1,500,000. Most of nationally known fraternal organizations function in Sterling. Social club features are maintained by the Elks, Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Columbus, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Moose and Sterling Clubs. Red Cross maintains welfare service, and County Tuberculosis Society, health service. The Y. M. C. A. has a $100,000 home, with a membership of over 700, and the Y. W. C. A. has recently opened a $50,000 home. The $100,000 City Hospital is soon to be enlarged. Sterling supports a strong Country Club, a community Golf Club, Rotary, two woman's clubs, a Manufacturers' Association, Credit Bureau and Association of Commerce. The last named organization is particularly active. Its literature is enlightening and reliable. The following is quoted from one of its latest booklets : Sterling and Rock Falls — "110 miles west of Chicago by rail, 117 miles by auto. The "Twin Cities," are practically one community. Located in fertile Rock River Valley, they rank among the important industrial centers of the Middle West. Beautiful residences, attractive churches, excellent schools, thea- ters, clubs and busy factories make this an ideal community in which to live and prosper. "On main line Chicago & Northwestern railroad, Chicago to Omaha; north THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 645 terminal C. & X. W. branch line to Peoria and Southern Illinois; junction point of Shabbona and Rock [sland branches of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. "Sterling, Dixon & Eastern Electric railway gives connection with Illinois ( 'cuiral at Dixon, 12 miles east. "Illinois & .Mississippi (Hennepin) canal taps Rock River here, providing water connection with points on Illinois and .Mississippi rivers, Gulf of Mexco, etc. Will have connection with Chicago and eastern points as soon as Illinois Waterway is completed. "On Lincoln Highway, paved across Illinois and well into adjoining states, and on several other excellent auto routes. Bus lines in several directions." THE CITY OF MORRISON The first settlements made in .Mount Pleasant township were those of William II. Pascal, .John D. Pascal, James J. Thomas and Felix French, their claims be- ing in the timber just east of the present City of Morrison, in 1835, and in the following year others occupied the site of the future county seat. Jacohstown, Illinois City and other prospective municipalities were projected, and some improvements made in the vicinity, hut Morrison was created by the short- sightedness of the people of Unionville, a flourishing and somewhat haughty settlement a short distance to the north. In 1851, the line of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad had been surveyed through Northern Illinois, with Unionville as one of its stations. The people of that village and locality were so convinced that the railroad must come to them that they held their lands at extravagant prices and would not yield a fraction in their demands. Lyman Johnson and II. S. Vroom, who were railroad builders and contractors and had come to the place in that capacity, handled the situa- tion so well that the line was shifted to the south and to a tract of land, of which they were the principal purchasers. There, in 1855, near the geographical center of the county they laid out a town, on sections 17, 18 and 19, and il was named in honor of Charles Morrison, a wealthy merchant of New York, and a friend of one of the proprietors of the town, W. H. Van Epps. The fir*! house erected was by Lyman Johnson, who commenced it before the town was laid out. It was afterward enlarged and used as a hotel, the Morrison House. On October 19, 1855, the first train was run into Morrison in charge of John Furlong, and the next day his shanty came on a flat car and was unloaded for his residence at Morrison. Residences and stores soon followed, and some of the new-comers came from Unionville and even Fulton. The Baptists put up a brick church. The board shanty, which did duty as a railroad depot, was soon a busy shipping point, and in 185(i the post office was moved from Unionville to Morrison. John E. Dennett, who had established himself as a merchanl the year before, was made postmaster. INCORPORATED AS A CITY On November 3, 1857. the citizens of the county voted to transfer the seal of justice from Sterling to Morrison, and the records were removed on May 3, 1858. For several years the county offices were on the second floor of a brick 646 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY building on Main Street and court was held on the floor above in what was afterward known as Concert Hall. The removal of the county seat to Morrison gave the town a great impetus. An excellent class of stores was established and the city became the center of a large and lively trade. On April 18, 1857, the voters of Morrison met at Johnson's Hall to consider the question of incorpora- tion; seventeen voted in favor of it and two, against. At the election, a week later, Lyman Johnson, Samuel H. Vroom, S. H. McCrea, James G. Gridley and William L. Coe, were chosen trustees, and Hiram Olmstead, police magistrate. Forty-four cast their ballots at this first election. At the first meeting of the Board of Trustees, Bela C. Bailey was appointed street commissioner and police constable; so that Morrison was all ready to go ahead as an incorporated body under the laws of the State. COUNTY BUILDINGS The first county building erected after the seat of justice was fixed at Morri- son was the jail, which was completed in the winter of 1858-59 and rebuilt and much improved in 1876. The contract for the building of the courthouse was let in December, 1863, and completed in the spring of 1866. The walls of the structure are of brick, with corners of cut-stone, and the court house furnishes accommodations for judicial and jury purposes, and rooms for the Board of Supervisors, the law library and the sheriff. The other county offices are in- stalled in a separate building, the original of which was erected on the western part of the county grounds in 1862. The first county poor house and farm was selected during 1853 in Union Grove township. Buildings were erected and about half of the 240-acre farm improved. The property was sold in 1869, and the present site selected on the Sterling & Morrison road, just north of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad in section 23, township 21 north, range 5 east. The main building was com- pleted in the summer of 1870. In 1875, a structure was erected on the county poor farm for the care of the insane. MORRISON OP THE PRESENT The present City of Morrison is a neat, brisk little city of 3,000 people, and is functioning under the act of incorporation approved by the governor Feb- ruary 23, 1869, with the reorganizing measure of 1872. Under the former meas- ure, George A. Whitcomb was elected mayor, and under reorganization, E. B. Warner. The city stores are well stocked, as befits the county seat and the center of a good sectional trade. The three banks established at Morrison are substan- tial and have proven their soundness for many years. The First National was founded in 1865, the Smith Trust & Savings in 1878, and the State Bank in 1911. The churches and schools are also old and well tried. Morrison claims that her first public school was the one opened in the grove near the present site of the city in 1838, although the real local system dates from the establishment of the district school at Morrison in 1858 ; which coincides with the permanent fixing of the county seat there. The Township High School is the best evidence mrimiorsK and other county buildings, morrtson II Kill SCHOOL, MORRISON" 648 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of the interest taken by Morrison in the public education of her youth. The first class to graduate from the high school was in 1871. The city has two sub- stantial graded school buildings to accommodate the North and South sides. The South side school is noticeably attractive. Morrison has several flourishing churches. The oldest of the religious organ- izations originated at Unionville, the Protestant Methodist, in 1839 ; the Meth- odist Episcopal in 1842; the Congregational in 1844; the Baptist, in 1854, and the Presbyterian in 1855. The Odd Fellows were the first of the secret orders to be locally established, in 1858, and in the following year the Masons organ- ized a lodge. MORRISON MUNICIPAL BUILDING The most recent and most notable manifestation of public spirit by the people of Morrison is the erection of a substantial and elegant Municipal Building, completed at a cost of $80,000 and dedicated March 2, 1925. It is one of the very few buildings erected by a municipality in Illinois, for the needs of the community. A general description of it is worth while as indicating how it represents the democratic and patriotic spirit of the city. The Municipal Building provides a commodious basement in which is a large dining or banquet room with a finely equipped kitchen ; also a rest room for men. On the first floor of the building is a roomy entrance or lobby in which is a pedestal upon which will rest a statue commemorative of the deeds of -the. soldiers of the Civil, Spanish-American and World wars, and upon the walls of which will be placed bronze tablets containing the names of the soldiers of all wars who volunteered or were enlisted from Morrison or its immediate vicinity in the several Avars in which our country has participated. Prom the lobby to the left, one enters an audience room which with its main floor and balconies has a capacity of seating 1,200 persons. Under the stage are provided sliding receptacles for the chairs used upon the main floor from which they can be removed in a few minutes and the floor entirely cleared ready for "on with the dance," or for a public exhibition of athletic, sports. To the right from the lobby is the entrance to the rooms belonging to the Woman's League which include an audience room, rest room, an emergency hospital, a kitchenette and a toilet room, for the use of any ladies visiting Mor- rison from the surrounding country or who are touring Lincoln Highway, which passes the doors of the building. The same entrance passes on to the City Council rooms and to the rooms pr - vided for the use of patriotic organizations. At present these rooms are occu- pied by the Post of the American Legion. To the rear in the Municipal building, which occupies 117 by 99 feet on the northwest corner of Lincoln Way and Genesee Streets, and facing the latter si reet are located the Fire Department of the city and its equipment, and also the engine and boiler rooms for heating the building. It is only just to say that the valuable ground upon which the Morrison Municipal Building stands was contributed by the Woman's League and the American Legion Post of Morrison. 650 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY CHARLES BENT AND THE WHITESIDE SENTINEL Morrison has also a representative newspaper, which has stood by her for- tunes, good and bad, ever since the town won county seat honors. On the 23rd of July, 1857, Alfred McFadclen, who had resigned the editorship of the Pulton Investigator, issued the first number of the Whiteside Sentinel at Morrison. With the exception of one year, he continued its publication for a decade. In July, 1867, the paper was purchased by Charles Bent and Maurice Savage, who issued it until May, 1870, when Mr. Bent became its sole proprietor. Mr. Bent became identified with the Whiteside Sentinel the year after he was mustered out of military service as a lieutenant in the 147th Illinois Infantry, which was one of the last regiments to be disbanded. For about eighteen months, while he was engaged in the preparation and publication of a history of Whiteside County, the Sentinel was conducted by Robert W. Welch of New York, but at the con- clusion of that period Mr. Bent repurchased the paper. Since that time, the Whiteside Sentinel has been continuously owned and conducted either by Mr. Bent or his son, Charles Bent, Jr., the latter having sole charge of it during the absence of the father as United States pension agent at Chicago, and for a num- ber of years past. The senior editor and proprietor is living in partial retire- ment from the active labors of his profession, and the editors and publishers of this work have been fortunate in securing his cooperation as an adviser of long and honorable residence in the lower Rock River Valley. PROPHETSTOWN Although Asa Crook and others who became interested in the town settled in 1834 near its present site, Prophetstown was not platted until 1838. Its pro- prietors were George W. Campbell, Dixon B. Morehouse, James Craig, Asa Crook, Erastus Nichols, Jabez Warner and Daniel Webster. Yes, it was the master of eloquence, Webster, who had an interest in Prophetstown, but he soon dis- posed of it in Philadelphia, or he might have been a struggling lawyer and land owner of the West rather than the noted orator and statesman of the East. The original plat included that part of the present village lying north of Main Street. In 1855, the town was re-surveyed, as the first survey was found to be incorrect. Prophetstown was incorporated as a village in 1859 and on the 4th of Apr'.l of that year occurred the first election for charter officers. Andrew J. Tuller was the first president of its Board of Trustees. This village of about 1,200 people is beautifully located on the south bank of the Rock River, and is the market town of a rich agricultural district in the southern part of Whitesida County. Its two banks give it standing as a convenient trading center for a considerable district. The Citizens State is the older as it was founded in 1899 ; the Farmers National was established in 1902. A number of newspapers were established, or rather, started at Prophetstown immediately after the railroad had been completed to the village. The first venture was the Spike, in which Charles Bent was interested, but it did not stand, although it was conducted for twelve or thirteen years. Its successor, the Echo, established by William Wilson in 1892, is still alive. BUSINESS STREET LOOKING EAST, MORRISON BUSINESS STREET LOOKING WEST, MORRISON 652 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ALBANY AND ERIE Albany and Erie are small villages in the western part of Whiteside Countj^ the former on the Mississippi and a station of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and the latter, just west of Prophetstown on a branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line. The earliest settlers in what is now known as the village of Albany were Ed- ward Corbin and his brother-in-law, a Mr. Mitchell, who came in 1835 from the State of Ohio. Mr. Mitchell made claim to what is now known as Upper Albany and Mr. Corbin, to Lower Albany. Both of the original proprietors sold out to more permanent settlers who came during the following year. Upper Albany was for some time called Van Buren, and Lower, simply Albany, and the two towns were thus platted in 1836. In December, 1839, the two were surveyed and platted as Albany, and a post office was established in that year. The opening of Frink & Walker's line of stages from Chicago to Albany in 1844 commenced one of the progressive eras of the town. Previously, the coach line ran from Chicago to Galena, and thence to Albany by water. The village was almost devastated by the tornado of June 3, 1860, which came from the Northwest, swept through portions of Iowa, crossed the river and ruined a large section of the village, as well as caused the death of several of its citizens. This terrible sot- back was partially lightened by the advent of the Western Union Railroad in November, 1865. At times, previous to the coming of the tornado in 1860, Albany's promises were bright, but they were not finally redeemed, and, despite her picturesque location and offerings of fine building sites for residences and factories, it is now a forlorn settlement of only 600 or 700 inhabitants — a sta- tionary railroad station. For forty-five years various attempts were made to found newspapers at Albany, but without success until 1899, when the Review was founded. The first settlers came into Erie township as early as 1835, but the old sec- tion of the village was not platted until 1850. The original proprietors of the town were Samuel Carr, M. G. Wonser, James McMillen and George Marks. Pre- vious to the laying out of the town there were several log cabins on the site, a tavern and a schoolhouse. About the time it was platted, the post office was moved from Crandall's Ferry to the village, and the regular trips of the Rock Island and Dixon stages also enlivened the place. Erie did not obtain railroad connection until January, 1869, when the line then known as the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis took the village into its system. It created such a stimulus in the coming of settlers and increase of business that its people voted for village incorporation in September, 1872. Erie has now a population of about 800. LYNDON AND TAMPICO Lyndon and Tampico are two villages on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, in the central and southeastern sections of the county, their population ranging from 600 to 800, respectively. Naturally, Lyndon is situated on the north hank of the Rock River. The original village was platted in 1837 by John C. Pratt, William D. Dudley, Adam R. Hamilton, Elisha Hazzard, Chaunccy Woodruff, Ebenezer Seeley, Dr. Augustin Smith and P. Daggett. It THE ROCK KIVKK VALLEY 653 (•(insisted of eighteen blocks, with ;i reservation for a public square and another for a levee, as the proprietors anticipated a large river business. Boats had passed up and down the river before that time carrying freight both ways and it was hut natural that Lyndon should look to the river as the medium by which the grain and produce of the region should be taken to market and finished goods received in return. After the town was platted several steamers were loaded with grain at the Lyndon levee Eor St. Louis and other southern ports; so that, in a measure, its anticipations were realized, and for a long time the town pros- pered. The completion of the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis Railroad in 1869 gave Lyndon a new outlook, although the line ran outside of the original town. To meet the situation, Railroad Addition was platted, and a station erected on it. The consequence was that the site of the old town was almost deserted. With the organ i/.at ion of the Lyndon Hydraulic Manufacturing Com- pany in 1872, a number of industrial plants were established at the water power dam. The company erected a merchant flour mill and not long afterward private parties erected plants for the manufacture of straw wrapping paper, flour and feed and farm implements. Lyndon by no means fulfilled early ex- pectations, although it is still one of the best of the smaller villages in the county. It was incorporated in 1874. Tampico is a little larger than Lyndon. There were a few buildings on the town site, including several corn cribs and a saloon, when the railroad reached it in .March, 1872, and when the village was incorporated in the following July. A post office had already been established, with J. S. Kimball as postmaster. The village government was not organized until February 26, 1875, when J. W. Classburn was elected president and J. C. Mosshart, clerk. Tampico is chiefly noted for its misfortunes through fire and wind. Destructive fires swept through various portions of it, the burned areas sometimes overlapping, in 1872, 1874 and 1876, and on June 6, 1874 (the conflagration occurred in January), a tor- nado almost completed the work of destruction suffered by the fire of six months previous. Many were seriously wounded, as the wind storm dashed through the village about 11 o'clock in the evening when most everybody had retired. Outside of Tampico, little damage of any kind was done. About two weeks before the village suffered its third serious fire, and some two years after the passage of the wind storm, the Tampico Tornado was established, its proprietors taking the precaution of printing the newspaper at Propbetstown. It was afterward moved to the village itself, where it has been published since 1877. WHITESIDE COUNTY IN THE WARS The men and women of Whiteside County have always lived up to the stand- ard of American patriotism, which is the highest the world affords. Charles Bent, the journalist and Civil war veteran, has condensed in telling figures what its sacrifices were during that trying period of 1861-65. In 1860 the population of the county was 18,72!). In 1863, the enrollment of volunteers for the Union army was 3,328; in 1864, 3,338, and in 1865, the same. The total quota of men prior to December 31, 1864, 2,129 men ; total credits, 2,()1!». < t >uota of the county, December 31, 1865, 2,539; 'tit ire credit during the war, 2,535. Deficit under all calls, only four men. The total indebtedness of the county caused by the 654 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Civil war was $529,402. By September, 1867, seventy per cent of it was paid, and a few years afterward not a dollar of indebtedness remained. Whiteside County sent its soldiers into many commands and fields of serv- ice. Company F, of the Forty-second Illinois Infantry, was composed mostly of men from Fulton and Albany. Company B and a large part of G also enlisted from the county in the one-year service, while Companies A and D (the latter cadets from Fulton College) joined the 100-day men. Company E, of the 146th, was from Whiteside, and many of the boys from the county were enrolled when the Forty-sixth was organized into a veteran regiment in 1864. The county contributed Company F to the Ninety-third Infantry in 1862, the men being recruited from Garden Plain, Fulton, Mount Pleasant, Newton, Albany, Erie and Fenton. The Eighth Illinois Cavalry, which saw four years of hard fighting and steady service, was represented by Whiteside County horsemen in Companies C, G, H and I. Alpheus Clark of Lyndon, was made major shortly before his death from wounds, in July, 1863. Two of the best companies of the Thirteenth Infantry were furnished by Whiteside — B from Sterling and G, from Morrison. The Seventy-seventh was largely representative of the county in Companies B, C, D, H and I. Edwin N. Kirk, who recruited and organized the Thirty-fourth, was commissioned its colonel, in the fall of 1861. He afterward commanded a brigade, was wounded at Shiloh and received fatal injuries at Stone River, on December 31, 1862. He was taken to his home in Sterling, where he died in June, 1863, at the early age of thirty-five. On ac- count of the celerity of its movements, the Thirty-fourth Infantry was often called "McCook's foot cavalry." The Whiteside County men who served in the Spanish- American war of 1898 were identified with the Sixth Regiment, U. S. Volunteers. Company E, of Sterling, was the first, and Company I, of Morrison, the last of the twelve com- panies of this command to be sworn in. Lyndon, Albany, Prophetstown, Erie and Rock Falls were also well represented. Not tracing the preliminary move- ments of the regiment, it is enough to know that the Second Brigade, of which the Sixth Illinois and the Sixth Massachusetts were regimental units, boarded coaches and box cars for Charleston, South Carolina, on July 5, 1898, and from that port were transported to Santiago, whither they arrived on two steamers not long after the bombardment had ceased. They were not permitted to land, as their presence was required at Guanica, Porto Rico. Although a consider- able force of Spanish regulars and volunteers were occupying the island, they were headed for San Juan, on the northeast coast, and the Sixth Illinois only had a slight brush with irregular troops before being ordered to Ponce. The march was through a rain-soaked country and very trying, and repeated for several weeks. Finally, on September 7th they sailed on the Manitoba, an English transport, and a couple of weeks later reached Sterling and Morrison where they were mustered out of the service. They did their good part as sol- diers, albeit they were not buoyed up by brilliant action and glory. In the operations of the World war, whether sending men to the front, or supporting the soldiers, at home, Whiteside County was always forward. Mere words do not speak as forcibly as facts and figures, which fortunately can be drawn upon from official governmental sources. From such published docu- ments it is learned that 7,801 registered for service in the county and that 857 SOLDIERS MONUMENT, STERLING 656 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY were accepted. Whiteside County subscribed as follows to the various war funds: First Liberty loan, $370,450; second, $1,298,600; third, $1,444,900; fourth, $2,232,750; Victory, $1,595,750; war savings, $606,989. To the Red Cross funds, she gave $23,807, and to United War Work Fund, $92,298. Whiteside's standing agriculturally It is easy to write that Whiteside County is one of the most productive agri- cultural sections in the Rock River Valley but quite another proposition to prove it by cold, hard, convincing facts. Uncle Sam and his Federal Census of 1920 come to the rescue. The latter authority, sustained by the Government, shows that Whiteside County is sixth of the twelve counties covered by this his- tory in the total value of its land, buildings and implements devoted to pur- poses of agriculture, also including live stock; the figures being $95,736,000. She stands fourth in the value of such crops as corn, wheat and other grains, potatoes and hay, realizing from those sources $5,631,000. Whiteside County is fourth among the counties as a corn producer ; the 123,000 acres set aside for that cereal produced over 5,000,000 bushels, valued at $13,500,000. The county is also one of the foremost breeders of horses in the Rock River Valley, being a close competitor of Ogle County for fourth place. The foregoing gives a more satisfactory idea of the actual performances of Whiteside County in the field of agriculture than a gush of generalities in her praise. CHAPTER XXV II HEX IJV COUNTY, ILLINOIS OLD HENRY COUNTY — SIMPLE LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT — GENESEO REPLACES RICH- MOND DOUBLE-HEADED COUNTY SEAT — CAMBRIDGE, THE COUNTY SEAT — CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY THE FOUNDERS OF THE BISHOP HILL COLONY THE JANSONITES LEAVE SCANDINAVIA SITE OF BISHOP HILL COLONY SELECTED — I HE SETTLEMENT GROWS — THE CHOLERA AND GOLD FEVER — THE MURDER OF ERIC .MN'SON OLSON SUCCEEDS JANSON THE LAWS OF THE COLONY — ASSISTS IN FOUNDING GALVA — PROGRESSIVE DISSOLUTION — SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION CONNECTING EDWIN A. OLSON, U. S. DISTRICT ATTORNEY — THE CITY OF KEWANEE — OUTSIDE OF KEWANEE — AS AN AGRICULTURAL COUNTY. Henry County, with its population of 45,000 people distributed over an area of 814 square miles, lies partly in the lower Rock River Valley and in the upper valley of the Mississippi. Green River, the chief southern branch of the Rock, drains the northern and central portions of the county on its westward course toward Rock Island, while Edwards River, with its tributaries, meander's through the southern sections and joins the Mississippi in Western Mercer ( 'ounty. OLD HENRY COUNTY Before Old Henry County was created in 1825, the succession of counties which led to its birth was quite involved and impressive. In 1788, the North- west Territory was erected with its seat of justice at Marietta. It was divided into three counties — Hamilton (Ohio), Knox (Indiana) and St. Clair (Illinois). When the Territory of Illinois was formed in 1809, its county divisions were Randolph and St. Clair. Then the order of succession leading to old Henry County was .Madison County, 1812; Bond County, 1817; Clark County, 1819; Pike County, 1821, and Fulton County, 1823. An act of the General Assembly, approved January 13, 182.", created Knox, Peoria. Putnam, Schuyler, "Warren and Henry. The last named which honored Patrick Henry by name was taken from both Pike and Fulton counties. In 1826 the Fever River voting precinct, with headquarters at Galena, was established by the Commissioners' Court of Henry County, and was the first political divi- sion of its kind in northwestern Illinois. In the following year, the Galena settlement had sufficient population (350) to warrant a petition praying for separate county organization. The General Assembly therefore erected Jo Daviess County, with Galena as the seat of justice. 657 658 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY SIMPLE LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT On January 5, 1835, the boundaries of Henry County on the north and north- west were denned as the Rock River, and in the following year by the estab- lishment of the limits of Whiteside County, it assumed its present form and area. It seems that James M. Allan had already laid his plans to locate a county seat for the new political division. With him, to decide was to act, and it is related : "He mounted his horse and rode until he found an established corner in Sugar Tree Grove, and from that point, guided by a pocket compass, rode due north, counting the steps of his horse, until he reached, as he supposed, sec- tion 17, township 16 north, range 3 east, about five miles from where he started ; and this led him to a rise in the middle of as beautiful a prairie as may be found anywhere. He had made no error in his measurement and he afterward entered the southeast quarter of section 17, staked out a town thereon and named it Richmond ; and the town was henceforth a standing candidate for the county seat. ' ' The commissioners to locate the county seat met at Richmond to view the different sites. Major Allan's location, virtually the only tangible site, naturally carried the day. The proprietor of Richmond therefore deeded 120 acres of his section to the county. The Major also deeded three lots to George Harris provided he should erect a hotel on the site by June 1st. Further, Mr. Harris was to build a courthouse on the county lands, 18 by 24 feet, one and a half stories high. But the unfinished courthouse burned and the Harris hotel was used both for court and jail. The first Circuit Court for Henry County com- menced its session in April, 1839, with Thomas Ford presiding and James M. Allan, clerk. GENESEO REPLACES RICHMOND Finally, nothing was left of Richmond but a straw-covered stable, and the county commissioners decided that steps should be taken to select a more con- venient and dignified seat of justice. In 1837, Geneseo, in the northern part of the county, had been platted by a colony of New York men under the leader- ship of R. R, Stewart and another company from the Empire State had even anticipated them by several months in the platting of Morristown, a short distance to the southwest. Andover, in the southwestern part of the county, had also been founded by a Connecticut colony of Congregationalists. But during the following two years the chief contestants for county seat honors were Mor- ristown and Geneseo. Geneseo then became the temporary county seat, although the County Court held one session at the Richmond stable. DOUBLE-HEADED COUNTY SEAT After the Legislature had legalized the acts passed at Geneseo, it passed a measure to permanently locate the county seat of Henry. The only contest was between Morristown and Geneseo, as the few houses which had appeared at Sugar Creek Grove, almost in the geographical center of the county, had not acquired the dignity of a village. The inducements offered by Morristown were HIGH SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE COUNTY COURT HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE Vol. 1—42 660 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY considered superior to those advanced by Geneseo. Morristown proposed to give an entire quarter section and $1,000 in cash, stipulating that a public house should be erected out of the fund arising from her donations, and that all col- onists who bought lots should erect houses. Geneseo offered her fair grounds and buildings, to be transformed into county property. The Circuit Court was allowed to meet at Geneseo until the fall of 1841. At its completion the public house at Morristown was conveyed to the county and used for court and official purposes for two years, or until the courthouse was finished. That structure was 18 by 24 feet, a story and a half high. CAMBRIDGE, THE COUNTY SEAT For two years more, these make-shift arrangements continued. In the mean- time, the pretty little settlement at Sugar Creek Grove, under the direction of Judge Joseph Tillson, had been growing in size and ambition. It was con- veniently situated for tax-payers, litigants and others having official or judicial matters to transact, while Morristown was far distant for those who had settled in the central and southern sections of the county. In the winter of 1843, Judge Tillson therefore had the foresight to forward a bill to Colonel John Buford, of Rock Island, who then represented the senatorial district in the legislature including Henry County, providing for the relocation of its seat of justice. Joshua Harper represented the interests of the new claimant in the lower House. On February 21, 1843, the bill passed both houses of the legislature, providing as a site for the county seat, eighty acres of section 7, township 15, range 3 east ; forty acres from the northwest quarter and another forty from the southwest quarter. The bill also stipulated that the courts should be held at Morristown until buildings should be provided at the new location. In June, 1843, Judge Tillson, who came of an old Massachusetts family, surveyed and platted the new county seat under the name of Cambridge. Even the little courthouse planned for Morristown was incomplete, and the county commissioners arranged to have it loaded on wagons and hauled to the site prepared for it in Cambridge. The courthouse landed on the 5th of September, 1843, and, after being made habit- able, was used for county purposes until the new building was completed in July, 1845. With the growth of the county, a more commodious structure was required for county purposes and, for many years, the second courthouse was used for educational purposes, as a town ball and a community church. Cambridge has remained the county seat since 1843, and is a neat little vil- lage of about 1,400 people, with business houses, churches and schools adequate for local demands and resident comforts. CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY The first religious organization to be formed in Henry County was a Meth- odist class, which was organized in the fall of 1835 at the home of P. K. Hanna, in the township of that name, in the northwestern part of the county, on the Rock River. It was organized by Rev. Colin D. James. The society grew and a brick church was erected which was known for years as the Rock River Chapel. A better house of worship was afterward built in the village of Cleveland. At THE HOCK RIVER VALLET 661 Colona, a settlement ;i short distance to the south, the Methodists also form d a class as early as 1 S4i2, and the Presbyterians organized at a somewhat later day. In the southern part of the county, the Wet hersfield colony of Connecticut Congregationalists, established the town of Andover, and in 1839 founded their first church there, under Rev. I. Pillsbury. The Methodists organized in 1841, Rev. W. P. Vaill, of their Home Missionary Society, having arrived at Andover, some time previously. After Andover had been abandoned by the colonists in favor of Wethersfield, the town site farther east, Kewanee was platted (in 1854) on either side of the Military Tract Railroad and commenced to draw from the strength of the colony — its churches, its schools and its business houses. The several colonies which were planted in Henry County in the late '30s brought to this Far West region the seeds of education from New England, New York and even continental Europe. Cambridge was settled by stray pio- neers about the time a party of men and women from the Genesee country of New York occupied the site of a town they called Geneseo. One of the most prominent of these colonists was R. R. Stewart. The New York colonists spread over nearly 20,000 acres in the western townships of the county, including O - and Colona. The Wethersfield Colony, composed of Connecticut emigrants under the guidance of Dr. Caleb J. Tenney, a leading Congregational minister, first located around Andover shortly before the county was organized, but after- ward continued their enterprise in the Kewanee region. Still farther south in what is Henry County, and more than a decade after the coming of the Wethersfield colonists, Eric Janson and his 1,100 who had broken away from the Lutherans in Sweden founded Bishop Hill, near the south- ern line of the county. A few months afterward, in January, 1847, its colonists opened an English school ; and, as stated, the members of the other earlier col- onies in Henry County were placing instructors over their children soon after they were planted on the new frontier. THE FOUNDERS OF THE BISHOP HILL COLONY As the founding, development and dissolution of the Bishop Hill colony form a most interesting chapter in the history of Henry County, it is considered fortunate that the projectors and builders of this history were able to secure a full, attractive and authentic narrative tracing the planting and dispersal of the Bishop Hill Colony from its old-world origin to its natural distribution under the kinder influences of American communities. The author is Philip J. Stoneberg, a descendant of one of the founders of the colony, and his paper follows : — About one hundred and fifty miles southwest of Chicago, in the south- eastern part of Henry County, Illinois, there is a little village by the name of Bishop Hill. This rural community has several large brick buildings, the rea- son for whose presence in such a small town one might be disposed to ask. But when the fact is ascertained that these buildings were once built and occupied by a good sized communistic settlement which laid the foundations of the town and made it their principal scene of activity for about fifteen years, there appears to be an answer. The history of the social organization which existed at Bishop Hill more than thirty years ago takes ,us back into the first half of the last century and 662 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY across the ocean to the European Kingdom of Sweden. We shall learn that there was, at the bottom, a religious motive whose pursuit \ culminated in a colony on the prairies of Illinois. On the 19th of December, 1808, there was born fin one of the parishes of central Sweden a boy who in his manhood years was to become the most im- portant individual in the .founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. At his con- firmation at the age of fifteen he showed a marked ability in dealing with religious subjects. As he became older his interest in matters , theological in- creased and he employed his spare moments, when he was not attending to his farm duties, in studying i devotional books by Luther, Arndt, Nohrburg, and others, At the age of twenty-two he wrote poems and short compositions. He discarded, presently, all religious books except the Bible. He declared that the Bible was all sufficient for study and meditation and that it alone was the guide to salvation from sin. He held that belief in God and Christ led to a complete forgiveness of sins. In the beginning of January, 1843, he made a journey to the distant prov- ince of Helsingland to look up others of a like devotional turn of mind. These men and women sought a life of conscientious morality by private devotions and a frequent study of the Scriptures in their homes, receiving the nickname of ' ' devotionalists. ' ' Janson stopped one night at the farm home of Jonas Olson who, with his brother Olof, was an ardent devotionalist. Janson attended a gathering of spiritually minded men and women and made a deep and favorable impres- sion. A number of places were visited by Janson upon this journey. He started out on his second trip towards the end of February and did not arrive home until the close of April, visiting upwards of a dozen parishes. He then remained at home for about two months, attending to his family affairs, whereupon he made a third trip to Helsingland. This time he met with con- siderable hatred on the part of the clergy who had combined to drive him out. Near the close of 1843 he made his fourth journey northward and settled in that region with his family. The number of those increased who believed in the doctrines and ideas which Janson expressed. Several men who had the gift of oratory and exhorta- tion conducted meetings in private houses in various parishes in central Sweden ; and such persons as believed in the principles expounded were urged to prac- tice them in order that pious lives might be the result. In the eyes of conservative laymen and clerics of the Church, the new move- ment was fanatical and ought to be suppresed. The name of Jansonism was given to it, and that of Jansonists to the believers themselves, on account of the important part of Eric Janson in the revival. The Jansonistic disbelief in the use of books other than the Bible was em- phasized before long as strongly as it could well be done. In a certain village on the 11th of June, 1844, a large number of religious books, excepting the Bible, the Hymn book, and the catechism were thrown into a heap and ignited. The fire consumed one book after another, so that in a few minutes a few charred scraps fluttering about on the blackened ground were all that was left, in October of the same year a similar event took place in another parish when not even the hymn book and the catechism were spared. And still a third bonfire of theological tomes was brought about, as if the passion for such deeds was becoming insatiable. If the religious views of the Jansonists were provoking opposition — if sim- ple devotional gatherings in private houses were regarded by the churchly authority as unseemly, then with what feeling of horror must not the burning of religious books have been viewed by the conservative as well as the ultra- orthodox! For these bold acts the perpetrators were visited by the law and required to pay fines. It would be natural to suppose that the leader in the new religious move- I'. HAMMOND Geneseo Centenarian, Prom photograph taken in 187(i 664 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ment would be subjected to a great deal of persecution. And so he was. Janson was placed under arrest six different times within the same two years. His first taste of prison was in the parish of Osterunda for his pronounced activities. Shortly after he was set free by the court. But it was not long before he was again placed in bonds and transported, this time, to the prison in the city of Gefle, whence he was removed to another place. Through the intercession of four of his devoted co-workers at the court of the King, Janson was set free once more. In September, 1844, he was arrested for the third time but was released, though he was put into custody soon after for his part in burning devotional books. After another brief interval of freedom Janson found himself within the prison walls on Christmas Day. Here he remained for nearly four months when he was set free in April, 1845, through a petition to the King. But be- cause of his bold utterances and gaining popularity he seemed to be a target for the police authorities. He was in hiding for fifteen weeks when he decided to give himself up voluntarily to the court in the parish of Delsbo. Here he was put on trial. After the argument in the case was over, the judge concluded to acquit the prisoner; but because the opposition to Janson was exceedingly bitter, it was thought best to conduct him to the prison at Gefle. While he was being conveyed thither to what it was believed a life imprisonment, he was rescued in a daring manner by four of his faithful brethren, after which he made good his escape wandering from one parish to another, hiding in this farmhouse and that, until at length he crossed the mountains and came to one of the ports of Norway whence he took sail for America in January, 1846, by way of Denmark, England and Germany; in the party were himself, his wife and two children and three other persons. Let us now go back and find out what befell some of Janson 's co-workers. In the summer of 1844 a complaint was made by a parish priest against a number of persons because of their religious faith and each one was fined a considerable sum of money. In December of the same year the brothers Olof and Jonas Olson were arrested for preaching in the open air, but were released when it was learned that they were summoned to appear before the church authorities at Upsala. A man high in judicial circles kindly helped them out of their dilemma. On New Year's Eve Jonas Olson was arrested and brought to Gefle where he was incarcerated among prisoners whom he himself as an officer of the crown had formerly sentenced. He was shortly released. Sometime afterwards the two brothers, Olof and Jonas Olson, were summoned, for the second time, to appear before an assembly of the clergy at Upsala. They were now threatened with banishment if they persisted in conducting devotional gatherings. On one occasion Jonas Olson was fined for reading a passage from the Scriptures and reciting the Lord's Prayer in a private house. In a certain parish his brother Olof was fined one hundred crowns for a similar proceeding ; and since his conduct was regarded by the authorities as "Sabbath-breaking" he was fined ten crowns more ! On the forenoon of May 12, 1845, a devotional meeting was in progress in a private house in the parish of Osterunda. While one of the guests, Olof Stoneberg, was reading a portion of Scriptures several men forced their way in and assaulted him. On the next Sabbath the same Stoneberg was reading from the Bible to a gathering in another house, when a mob of men appeared in the yard, including the priest. Only after repeated orders of the crown officer present did the crowd disperse. THE JANSONISTS LEAVE SCANDINAVIA From the instances given it is evident that the Jansonists were subjected to persecutions. Furthermore, they were denied to partake of the eucharist. They were also deprived of the rights to testify in the courts of law, being thereby THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 665 deprived and rendered helpless is legal actions against themselves. In view of all this, it appears that these men and women were being shorn of those old-time rights, privileges, and pleasures to which they as well as their fore- fathers had been aeeiistomed. Two courses remained open to them: the one, to renounce their newly-begotten ideas on religion and dwell unmolested among the lakes and mountains of their childhood days; the other to adhere to their beliefs and depart for a land far away across the rough billows of the deep. They chose the latter course. Before he left Scandinavia, Eric Janson had, with some of his friends, determined upon a plan for the emigration of the Jansonists to America, the land which was known to he a haven for the persecuted and oppressed. It was thought that it would he best for all to live together in one community in the western world, for spiritual as well as economic benefit. Janson, it should lie said, had developed exalted notions of himself since he first began to preach. He now was coming to regard himself as the representative of Christ in the New Jerusalem which he and his followers would build in the new world. He compiled a hymn-book and wrote a catechism which were to be used in the new community, both being published in Soderhamn in 1846. Thus from a spiritual view the establishment of a colony was desirable. From the economic standpoint it was believed that one social organization would be necessary and that this must be based on a community of goods. In the first place some of the Jansonists were penniless, others had but small means, while some were well-to-do. If all should obtain transportation across the ocean and later in America to their ultimate destination it would be necessary for all to put their means into a common fund. In the second place the welfare of every individual in the new home would require a common treasury out of which to pay for the necessaries of life until the people could obtain food and raiment through their own labors. .Mindful of the apostolic plan, Eric Janson appointed seven men as leaders of the emigration. Chief of them were Jonas Olson, Andrew Berglund, Olof Johnson, and Olof Stoneberg. These should have charge of a common fund out of which all debts should be paid which rested upon any individuals who were anxious to join in the emigration. The transportation of every emigrant should also be paid out of this fund, while the money that remained over and above these expenditures should be used in the establishment of the new colony. The common treasury was created by the contributions of the Jansonists who Bold persona] property of all kinds, houses and lands to the extent of their individual possessions. When it is realized that upwards of a thousand persons were willing to emigrate, it is seen that the undertaking was not a small affair for those days. Passes must be obtained from the authorities a difficult matter in some cases. Furthermore, an ocean voyage in those days was not so inviting as now. The ships were small and uncomfortable, some being old and unseaworthy. The emigrants assembled in the ports of Goteborg, Soderhamn, Stockholm and Gefle, and from these points the ships for America made their departure. The first shipload of emigrants that left Soderhamn suffered shipwreck on the Swedish coast. One ship with half a hundred passengers was entirely lost. Another was wrecked on the coast of Newfoundland. One vessel was five months on the voyage. SITE OF BISIIOl' HILL COLONY SELECTED Already in 1845 Olof Olson had left Sweden for America, with a commission to examine the country with the view of finding some suitable region for a settlement. In New York he became acquainted with a countryman of his by the name of Olof Hedstrom, a Methodist minister, who preached regularly in an old discarded ship fitted up into a meeting house. Hedstrom had a brother, 666 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Jonas, who lived at Victoria, a small village in Knox County, Illinois. Olof Olson was persuaded to visit the latter and examine the Illinois country which was receiving- considerable attention at that time because of its agricultural possibilities. He came to Illinois, he saw rich rolling prairies, and was con- quered. In July, 1846, Eric Janson together with a few followers, arrived in the village of Victoria, Knox County, Illinois. After further observations had been made a piece of property was bought in the next county on the north. This property was bought for $250 on the first day of August in the name of Olof Olson and consisted of sixty acres of land. On the 21st of August the party purchased in the same county for a consideration of $1,100 a farm of one hundred and fifty-six acres with buildings, livestock and grain. Hither moved Janson, Olof Olson and the rest of the party. After a further examina- tion of the neighborhood a location for the colony was picked out. This site was secured on September 26, 1846, when four hundred and eighty acres of government land were bought at $1.25 per acre. Thus a beginning was made to bring the Bishop Hill Colony into existence, a settlement named after the Swedish parish where Eric Janson was born. In the fall of the year a number of emigrants arrived in New York. There was no Statue of Liberty in the harbor to remind them of the freedom offered in the United States. They did not need, however, any especial reminders to what they had come. Here they knew they would be free to exercise their religious beliefs and would be accorded fair treatment. From New York City the journey was made up the Hudson River to Troy or Albany, and thence on the Erie Canal to Buffalo, and from Buffalo by way of the Great Lakes to Chicago. Horses and wagons were purchased in Chicago for the conveyance of the weak and the sick, and of the baggage. The able-bodied walked the entire distance of the final destination, a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. A large body of emigrants arrived in Bishop Hill in October, and to accom- modate them dug-outs were made in the hillsides. In these dug-outs two tiers of beds were placed along each wall. The dug-outs proved to be unsanitary and much sickness resulted. Radical changes in diet too, were injurious to the settlers. These conditions, together with the malaria fevers which rose out of the lowlands on the prairies caused many deaths. THE SETTLEMENT GROWS In the spring of 1847 re-enforcements were received. A number of the men who then arrived were put to erecting a wall of turf around the entire settle- ment. As the years rolled by new bands of settlers came and kept up the vigor and spirit of the colony. Attention to their spiritual wants and desires was natu- rally uppermost in the minds of the colonists. To this end they erected a church in the fall of 1846. This was built out of canvas and was in the shape of a cross. It seated about eight hundred persons. Every morning Janson called the people to the hour of prayer in the church. For two years "the tent church" stood intact when it was accidentally destroyed by fire. The neighboring woods were then utilized as a temple of worship during mild weather until a new church was built in 1848. The new edifice was constructed of wood with adobe between the plastering and the siding. The lower story and the basement were fitted up into dwelling rooms, while the second story was the hall of worship. Here religious services were held every evening throughout the year, the meet- ing sometimes lasting until late at night. On the Sabbath two services were conducted. About a half dozen men took turns in leading these meetings in the capacity of preachers and exhorters. Although the Jansonists had not, as a people, had any especial opportunities to learn to read and write and reekon, yet they believed in education. During the first winter a school for adults was conducted in the tent church. The next THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 667 year a school in the English language was opened, presided over by a Pres- byterian clergyman who had sonic assistance in the teaching at times. Twelve young men in particular were given instruct ion in the use of English in order that they might go forth and be apostles of Jansonism. Later certain spacious rooms in one of the brick buildings were devoted to school purposes, a man and his wife doing the teaching a few years. Towards the last year's of the colony a large brick schoolhouse was built. With the increase in population from one year to the next, the leaders soon Baw thai better and larger buildings must be had. So the industry of making bricks was started near the village through the finding of suitable clay. Thenceforth huge, substantia] buildings of brick were erected, most of which are standing today as impressive reminders of the wisdom of the pioneers. The colonists having been for the most part agricultural people in Sweden. naturally followed the same work in the new world. The products of the middle west were soon understood, and fields of Indian corn, oats, wheat, broom corn and hay were cultivated with care and industry. Oxen were used extensively and the care of them was assigned to the older boys. A large number of horses were also utilized. The main headquarters of the farming operations were at the village, but there were a number of sub-stations besides where gangs of workmen relieved each other at fixed intervals. During the busy season other labor was lessened or suspended for that in the fields, and men, women, and children over fourteen years of age worked side by side. Sometimes at the close of a day's work in the harvest field the laborers all formed a line of march, and singing the songs dear to them, they returned to the village to partake of the evening meal in the large dining hall in one of the brick buildings. The entire work of the colony was apportioned with care and system among the several hundred members. Since there was a great need of the men in the trades and in farming, the women were given a number of tasks to perform. A certain number of women milked the cows; some had the care of the calves; others worked in the dairy. The village contained a general merchandise store and post office, a smithy, a brewery for making small beer, a weaving establishment, a dye house, a hotel, a flour mill, a hospital, a laundry. There were wagon, furniture, harness, tailor and shoemaking shops. The tailor shop employed six men and three women. The smithy boasted seven forges, while the wagon shops were widely known for the excellent character of their work. The weaving establishment contained twelve reels and twelve handlooms ; besides one hundred and forty spinning wheels were distributed among the women of the community. About 12. .")()() yards of woven goods were made in 1848 while the output was over 31,600 yards in 1851. The surplus products of the shop or of the farm were sold in various towns in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the state. The nearest .markets were many miles away. Sometimes trips were made to Chicago to dispose of products of the colony and purchase needful things in return. THE CHOLERA AND GOLD FEVER In August, 1849, a few Norwegians arrived in the colony carrying with them that dread disease known as the Asiatic cholera. A child of six years succumbed to the awful malady after which the disease spread in earnest. Men rose in the morning strong and well, were indisposed the next day and in the throes of death the third. So frequent were the deaths that there was not time to make the coffins of other than unplaned boards. Seventy persons died at the new farm near Orion, while dozens breathed their last in the village. After three weeks the epidemic ceased to rage, leaving sadness and sorrow in its wake. The gold fever of 1848-50 penetrated the colony on the Illinois prairies as 668 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY it did every part of the Union. It was decided that a small company should set out to prospect for gold in California for the benefit of the Colony. Nine men composed the party. Securing some of the best horses and a supply of provisions they began their long journey in the month of March. After various hardships they arrived on California soil near the middle of August. Gold was hard to find, however, and their dreams of sudden wealth were rudely shattered one by one. Towards the end of September one of the men died of mountain fever. The party remained only a few months longer, making but a few hundred dollars during the time they were there. THE MURDER OF ERIC JANSON In the meantime important occurrences were taking place in the colony. An adventurer named John Root had fallen in love with one of the maidens. The two were married with the provision that if at any time in the future Root desired to leave the colony he might do so but that he would not be per- mitted to take his wife with him without her consent. The day came when Root wanted to leave. His wife being unwilling he took her away in a buggy by force at noon while the people were at dinner. Soon after, Mrs. Root's sister discovered what had happened and gave the alarm. Several men took the fleetest horses and set out in pursuit and overtook Mr. and Mrs. Root on the prairie. Root was then compelled to give up his wife. Some time later Root succeeded in spiriting his wife away to the city of Chicago. News of her whereabouts leaked out, however, and she was brought back through the agency of some of her friends. Root now became thoroughly incensed and by a great deal of energy gathered a mob to destroy the village. Affairs looked serious for a while, when the mob finally dispersed. Root had decided, nevertheless, to have his innings with the colonj^ and with Eric Janson in particular. May 13, 1850, attending to some law suits, and as Janson was talking with his attorney in one of the rooms of the courthouse at the noon- hour that day, Root appeared at the doorway, drew his pistol and shot Janson dead. For this crime Root was afterwards sentenced to a term in the State Penitentiary but served only a part of it, being pardoned by the Governor. The colony was now face to face with a serious occurrence, the death of Eric Janson. He who had been the spiritual head of the colony, blessing this individual and cursing that one; he who had been the superintendent of the economic affairs as well, appointing men to one task or another, buying and selling products and property — he was gone forever from the stage of life. What, then, of the future? Janson, it was understood, had on numerous occasions asserted that the leadership of the colony should always be hereditary within his own family. Therefore on the day of Janson 's funeral Mrs. Janson appointed Andrew Bergland regent until her son, Eric, should become of age. But the idea that the Janson family should continue to possess supreme power was not destined to last long. The people, it soon appeared, had been assimilating the principles of democratic rule from their contact with American customs. OLSON SUCCEEDS JANSON When Jonas Olson returned from California in 1851 he assumed the leader- ship of affairs and later, January 17, 1853, the colony was formally organized under a state charter with a board of seven trustees, consisting of Olof Johnson, Jonas Olson, Jonas Ericson, Jacob Jacobson, Jonas Kronberg, Swan Swanson, and Peter Johnson. The last named trustee resigned his office January 10, 1859, and was succeeded by Olof Stoneberg. The charter provided that the trustee should hold office during good behavior, but that they were liable to removal for good cause by a vote of the majority of the male members of the colony. i-3 W H w K H W O i— i f W w o w w 00 W w M 670 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Vacancies in the office of trustee were to be filled in such manner as should be provided by the by-laws. The trustees were to have the power of making contracts, to purchase real estate and again convey the same whenever they thought it proper to do so. The business of the corporation should be manu- facturing, milling, all kinds of mechanical business, agriculture and merchan- dising. THE LAWS OF THE COLONY The by-laws were adopted May 6, 1854, and were signed by 316 adult members. In the course of time the total number of adult signers rose to 526. The by-laws provided that any person sustaining a good moral character might become a member of the colony by transferring to the trustees thereof all his real and personal property and subscribing to the by-laws. The board of trustees was empowered to determine the question of moral character and admission and a majority of the trustees should constitute a quorum for that purpose. The trustees might, in their discretion, refer the question of admission to a vote of the adult male members of the colony. On the withdrawal or discon- tinuance of membership a person was entitled to no compensation or pay for any services or labor that he might have performed during the time he may have been a member. The trustees might, however, at their option, give to such person or persons such things, whether money or property, as they should deem right and proper. Any member guilty of disturbing the peace and harmony of the colony by vicious and wicked conduct or by preaching and disseminating doctrines of religious belief contrary to the doctrines of the Bible generally received and believed by the people might be expelled. The by-laws further stated that it was the duty of the trustees to regulate and direct the various industrial pursuits and business of the colony in person or by such agents or foremen as they might see fit to appoint from time to time and to require such agents or foremen to account to them in such manner as they should deem proper. Annually on the second Monday of January a meeting of the adult members was to take place for the general transaction of business. At this meeting the trustees were required to make a full and complete report of the financial condition and affairs of the colony for the year ending on the Saturday previous. Special meetings might be called by the board or by a majority of the male members by signifying their request to the trustees in writing five days in advance. The by-laws provided that the property and industry and the proceeds thereof belonging to the colony should constitute a common fund from which the trustees were required to provide for the subsistence, comfort and reasonable wants of every member of the colony ; for the support of the aged and infirm ; for the care and cure of the sick and the burial of the dead ; and for the proper education of the children and the transaction of all business necessary to the prosperity of the colony. At the death of Eric Janson the colony was in debt to the extent of $8,000 and affairs were not in the best shape, but after its organization under the charter the colony assumed a prosperous air and gradually but continually increased in property. More land was purchased and paid for, new buildings were erected and various improvements were made. ASSISTS IN FOUNDING GALVA In the year 1854 the colony did a large amount of work in building up the village of Galva five miles southeast of Bishop Hill. That village originally received the name of Gefle in honor of Olof Johnson, whose birthplace was the Swedish city of Gefle, but this word was soon anglicized into the word Galva. THE ROCK RIVER VALLKY 671 The first report of the trustees under the charter organization was made Jan- uary 22, 18.")."). According to tins report the colony owned 8,028 acres of land, im- proved and unimproved; fifty town lots in (Jalva, improved and unimproved valued at $10,000; ten shares in the Central Military Tract Railroad valued at + 1,000; also 586 head of cattle, 10!) horses and mules; 1,000 hogs, and divers poultry, wheat, flax, broom-corn, etc. The colony likewise possessed other property to the value of $31,471.02. The indebtedness amounted to $13,370.97, leaving a balance in favor of the colony amounting' to $18,100.05. On January 12, 1857, the report for the year 1856 was given, showing a balance over and above liabilities of $35,141.06. The net increase for the year 1858 was $55,281.84 and for the year 1859 it amounted to $30,968.78. The net value of the entire property of the colony on the 11th of January, 1860, including real estate, was estimated at $770,631.94. While thus there was an increase of property there was on the other hand an increase of indebtedness as well. The report covering the year 1854 showed a debt of $13,370.91 and that for 1856 of $59,136.39. While the report for 1857 showed a decrease to $15,937.47, that for 1858 indicated a jump to $55,- 919.74 and that for 1859 an advance to the sum of $75,645.64. This state of affairs led many to believe that something was wrong. Rumors got abroad among the members that the trustees were not making and manag- ing the business of the colony in a proper manner. Some became suspicious of Olof Johnson, who had been the agent of the colony for a few years. It was held that he had engaged in transactions which proved a failure and plunged the colony more deeply in debt. Be this as it may, the growth of the debt coupled with dissatisfaction with the business management of the trustees and their agent, weakened the bonds of harmonious cooperation in the colony. PROGRESSIVE DISSOLUTION At first it was whispered and later stated openly that a good many were in favor of a division of the property and a dissolution of the communistic ties. As the colonies came in contact with the settlers beyond the limits of the colony they saw that individual work for individual benefit was reaping large returns. Y"ears had now passed since a unity of religious views and a common sacrifice had drawn these pioneers together. There was not preva- lent now as then the same enthusiasm for a common cause. The rising generation did not know the full meaning of suffering tribulations for the sake of certain views on religion. The strenuousness of the religious system practiced by the colonists did not appeal to the young and a spirit of reac- tion was in the air. And so it came to pass that early in the year 1860 proceedings were inaugurated among the members and trustees of the colony, looking to a .final division of the property of the colony among its members, after paying and discharging its corporate debts and obligations, and to a final dissolution of the corporation. It was decided that an adult person should receive a full share and a person under twenty years a fractional share according to age. An estimate was made of the proportioned amount of real and personal property which one share would represent. The entire property of the colony was then divided into two large divisions and one of these was allotted to what was called "The Olson party" which represented two hundred and sixty-five shares, and the other to "The Johnson party" and represented one hundred and fifty shares in the colony. Committees were appointed to apportion among the members of the two parties the respective portions of real and personal property which the share of each member should represent. A competent surveyor was secured to survey the real estate after which by the authority of the county surveyor all the lands were platted according to the surveys made. The name of the mem- 672 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ber representing each tract, with the courses and distances, was marked on the plats which were finally recorded in the County Recorder's office. In the spring of 1861 the Johnson party perfected the individualization of its property, and the Olson party took the same step in March, 1862. The basis of distribution in the Johnson party was as follows : To every person, male and female, who had attained the age of thirty-five years a full share was given, consisting of about twenty-two acres, one timber lot and one village lot, together with an equal part of all barns, horses, cattle and other domestic animals, and of all farming implements and household utensils. All persons, male and female, under thirty-five years received a share cor- responding in amount and value to the age of the individuals. .The smallest share was about eight acres of land, a small town and timber lot and a part of the personal property. Ten thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven acres of land were thus trans- ferred from a corporate body into the hands of a large number of individuals for good or for ill. It was understood that the members should not receive deeds to the respective pieces of land representing their shares until the corporate debts of the colony were paid, or until the individual share-holders had paid their due proportion of the same. Owing to the facts that the colonists needed the immediate fruits of their toil, and the immediate rents and profits of their land, to enable them to make needful improvements it was determined that the corporation would attempt to obtain extensions from the creditors of the colony until such time as the members had obtained reasonable start and could contribute their shares to pay the indebtedness of the colony. In August, 1865, the trustees assessed upon the shares of the mem- bers $200 per share for the object of paying colony debts — $50 at or about the time of assessment, $50 about three months later and the balance, $100, about four months thereafter. Deeds were afterwards made out and placed in escrow, to be delivered to the share-holders when the assessments had been paid. Many assessments, however, were not paid so that a large part of the debt continued to exist. In March, 1868, the trustees decided that it was best to complete the legal individualization of the corporate property and pay all liabilities. At that time the indebtedness was $158,000 having been increased by $48,000 since 1861, largely because of the heavy rate of interest. A second assessment was ac- cordingly made upon the members of the colony. But believing that at that time the majority of the members were unable to pay their assessments in money, the trustees thought it was necessary to find some capitalist who would be able to advance moneys or assume liabilities for said members, in case they were unable to pay their respective portions of liability, and give such mem- bers such time and terms as would enable them respectively to meet the same without sacrifice of property. And so the trustees entered into an agreement with Elias Greenebaum of Chicago to perform this service for those members who desired it, upon their giving him individual notes and mortgages. At this juncture six members filed a bill of complaint in the Henry County Circuit Court against the trustees of the colony. This lawsuit proved to be expensive and accomplished little good. It was first ended in 1879 on the basis of a compi'omise. The religious life of the people underwent a change with the breakup of the colony. A process of division set in. Some persons became indifferent to religion, a few endeavored to remain faithful to Jansonism, a good many joined the Second Adventist denomination, but the bulk became Methodists. Such, in brief, is the history of the Bishop Hill Colony. It shows that a people will undergo many hardships for the sake of religious freedom, when once it puts free thought above authority. It shows, on the other hand, the power a strong man can exercise over his fellow beings by striking the chord THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 673 of mutual sympathy and implicit faith. It shows, further, thai a communistic settlement can he a success under certain conditions for a certain length of time. The founders and supporters of Bishop Hill Colony made mistakes now and then and did not always practice the ethical teachings they had adopted. In this they revealed their kinship to the rest of mankind. They deserve admiration, nevertheless, for having shown more of human and solid char- acter than multitudes who go through life content in having others frame their ideals for them. For some years now the surviving colonists, their descendants and friends have met in the village on the 23rd of September for a sumptuous dinner together and a program bearing upon the founding and development of the colony. In this way the varied lessons of the past Will be not forgotten. SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION On September 23-24, 1896, the settlement of Bishop Hill was celebrated by a semi-centennial gathering in the quaint little village. It was well at- tended by descendants of the colonists, although two of those in attendance who had continuously resided at Bishop Hill came over with the first of the colonists in duly, 1846. The oldest representative was Rev. Jonas Olson, nearly 94 years of age. Peter Wickblom and N. G. Hollander were both 87 years of age, the former delivering one of the addresses at the celebration exercises. The principal addresses were delivered by John Root, president of the celebra- tion organization; Rev. Axel Gabrielson, the local Methodist minister; and mayor of Bishop Hill; Captain Eric Janson, son of Eric Janson, founder of the colony, then a resident of League City, Texas ; and Hon. Jonas W. Olson, of that family so noted in the founding of the colony. The occasion was commemorated by the unveiling of a monument in the village park, upon the face of it being inscribed the following: ''1846 — Dedicated to the memory of the hardy pioneers who, in order to secure religious liberty, left Sweden, their native land, with all the endearments of home and kindred, and founded Bishop Hill Colony on the uninhabited prairies of Illinois. Erected by sur- viving members and descendants on the 50th anniversary, September twenty- third, 1896." CONNECTING EDWIN A. OLSON, U. S. DISTRICT ATTORNEY Edwin A. Olson, United States District Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, for many years (thirty-four or more) an honored resident of Chi- cago, is identified with the southern part of Henry County in not a few vital ways. In the first place he is descended from one of the original members of the Bishop Hill Colony and he was born in Andover, at which is still located the family homestead. In -July, 1924, Mr. Olson was the principal speaker at a celchrat ion in Andover commemorating the seventy-fifth anni- versary of the founding of the Swedish Methodist Church there, a religious organization which is said to be the second oldest of that denomination in the world. 674 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY THE CITY OF KEWANEE The City of Kewanee, in the southeastern part of Henry County, has nearly half the population of the county, about 18,000 people. In 1854, the original plat was laid out as a station on the Central Military Tract road (afterward the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy). Soon after the town was laid out, the Catholics organized a society at the house of Matthew Joyce, which occupied the site of the edifice afterward erected by St. Mary's Catholic Church. In August, 1855, some Congregationalists from Wethersfield commenced to meet in the village schoolhouse, which had just been erected and about the same time the Dial, through its editor, J. H. Howe, began to point Kewanee 's way to a bright future. In 1858, the Congregationalists established a regular church, with Rev. Charles H. Pierce as its settled pastor, and a few months later the Methodists of Weathersfield colony, who had been meeting in a school- house about a mile away, moved into town. The Baptists also transferred their headquarters from the site of the colony to the new railroad town. The Church of the Latter Day Saints was an early religious organization, which did not originate in Wethersfield colony. It was first established in 1859 at Amboy, Lee County, and commenced its work at Kewanee in 1862. One of the secrets of Kewanee 's advancement is her vigorous journalism. The Dial was soon purchased by C. Bassett, who figured prominently in local journalism. In 1870, he bought the Kewanee Radical and started the Ad- vertiser; subsequently, the Independent. The Kewanee Courier was estab- lished in March, 1876, by C. N. Whitney, who brought an outfit from Prince- ton, Bureau County. The Star-Courier, of which Mr. Whitney's publication was the originator, Avas first issued as a daily (evening paper, except Sunday) in 1894. Leo H. Lowe, who is both editor and proprietor of the daily and weekly Star-Courier is one of the veteran and honored men of the Rock River Valley. Of late years, it has become more and more evident that the expanding industrial element should have a mouthpiece to expound and exploit their interests, and in 1920 this need was met by the establishment of the Kewanee Labor Bulletin. ' ', , ! The city has fourteen or fifteen labor organizations. It is credited with nearly 4,000 wage earners, there being only a few hundred more in the entire county which are classed as industrial workers. Were it not for the great Kewanee Works the showing would be even more pronounced in favor of the agriculturists of the county. Throughout the county (substantially Kew r anee in this item) the different industrial plants disburse more than $5,600,000 in wages and the output of their products is valued at over $19,000,000. Three substantial banks are at the basis of its financial system, through which are conducted the business and industrial interests of the city. They are the First National, State Savings and the Savings Bank of Kewanee, and their combined capital is $375,000; surplus, $376,000, and deposits, $3,800,000. The First National is much the oldest, having been founded in 1871; the Savings Bank of Kewanee, in 1902, and the State Savings Bank, in 1912. The educational system of Kewanee comprises the Franklin High School, five other public school buildings and one business college, conducted under private management. There are also two parochial schools. The first school Kewanee .•Mr - it ■ Hs ■- Hi^h School - ' giii iiiill HI 1 1 JTpVHHS In LSI I'liMBv [ml tr ** 1 iff i .jj *■ "' CMfll1fl%F l trv ■nSBBPv J. ™ PI '1' i' jij "- n\\rt\i\ : ^IHT Weathersfield High School Weathers field School KEWANEE SCHOOLS Vol. 1—43 676 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY within the town limits was built by George A. Morse soon after Kewanee was platted. The high school department was organized in 1856. The original schoolhouse was occupied as such until 1858, when the East Side building was erected. In 1865, the latter was enlarged, and in the following year an- other schoolhouse was built. In no way does Kewanee better indicate its metropolitan character than by the variety of churches established, and the charities and secret and benev- olent societies in active operation. It has twenty-five churches of all denom- inations and there is no secret and benevolent order of standing which is not well represented. The Y. M. C. A. has a flourishing organization and a fine home for its various activities. The two hospitals — one public and the other Catholic — are high in the list of useful and benevolent community institu- tions. The social element, the needs of which are so vital to the well being of a representative American city, has established and supported such or- ganizations as the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, and those of longer standing such as the Elks, the Eagles and others, which have also their secret and benevolent features. Literary and musical societies are numerous, the former largely sup- ported by the typical American element and the latter, by the German. In short, the outstanding industrial character of Kewanee gives her institutions of whatever nature a varied complexion. Kewanee is one of the most progressive municipalities in the Rock River Valley. The city was incorporated under the general laws of the State on January 18, 1897, and has been under the commission form of local govern- ment since January 24, 1911. OUTSIDE OF KEWANEE Geneseo and Cambridge, old-time rivals for the county seat (now long held by Cambridge), are the largest places outside of Kewanee in Henry County. The population of Geneseo is about 3,500, and it is clean, homelike and sub- stantial looking, and the business and banking center of a rich agricultural region. Of its three banks, two are quite old — the First National, established in 1864, and the Farmers' National, in 1876; the Central Trust and Savings was not founded until 1907. Their combined strength is represented by $350,000 capital, $635,000 surplus and $3,116,000 deposits. The Geneseo Republican is one of the oldest newspapers in the State and dates from 1856, the birth- year of the party which it still stanchly upholds. Cambridge, the quiet, neat county seat, has a population of between 1,300 and 1,400. It also publishes an old newspaper, the Cambridge Chronicle, which commenced its journalistic career in 1858. As the county seat, it is necessary that Cambridge should have ample banking facilities, irrespective of the fact that it is the natural, as well as the actual trading center, of a large central district of the county. Its present ample conveniences in financial matters date from 1881, when its two banks, the Farmers National and the First National, were founded. Their capital totals $100,000, surplus $259,000 and deposits $1,695,000. Both Geneseo and Cambridge are on lines of the Chicago, Rock Island & Views of .AJortli East ParK looking north showing swimming pool Iookind south from bath house o NORTH EAST PARK, KEWANEB 678 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Pacific, which were opened from Chicago to Rock Island in July, 1854, and since that year have accommodated Henry County much more than any other means of transportation. One of its lines passes through the northern sec- tions of the county, including, as stations, Anawan, Atkinson and Geneseo; another line accommodates southern, southwestern and western districts, and numbers Galva, Bishop Hill, Cambridge and Orion. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy cuts across the southeast corner of the county through Kewanee to Galva, where is its junction with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific ; another section of the road runs west from Galva, near the southern limits of the county, and passes through Woodhull to Alpha, where it meets another line of the same road going north through Ophiem and other smaller stations to its junc- tion with the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific at Orion. In the northeastern corner of the county is the little settlement of Hooppole, of between 300 and 400 people. It is on a spur of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, which meets the main line at Tampico, Whiteside County. The spur, of which Hooppole is the present terminus, is known among Illinois railroads as the Galesburg, Roekf ord & Northern ; which title indicates its southwestern direction. Possibly, the presence of either a newspaper or a bank in any town or village is not an infallible index of its substantial standing; but when they are both planted it is pretty certain that a certain amount of trade and some ambition have found a foothold. For instance, Atkinson is fourth of the cities or villages in population, and its people number 800. The first Atkinson bank, the Trust & Savings, was established as early as 1881 ; the second, the Farmers State, was not founded until 1913. The Woodhull Dispatch was established in 1879, and is still keen in the work of advertising the good points of the village of 700 people. Orion, which is slightly smaller than Woodhull, has had its "Times" since 1877. Its two banks came on at a much later date — the State Bank, in 1890, and the Farmers State in 1908. Hooppole, a com- paratively young town, has a population of nearly 400 ; it has not been honored with a newspaper, but its Farmers State Bank was established in 1917. Old Andover, away from all railway connections, is a sleepy settlement of less than 300 people, with neither bank nor newspaper, while Alpha, a few miles to the southwest and at the juncture of two lines of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, has both — the Advance, established in 1902 and the Farmers State Bank, started in 1910. Galva, a junction of several lines of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, near the southern county line, is growing more rapidly than Bishop Hill, its mother. It has now a population of over 300, and three banks to meet its shipping demands as well as its local trade. L. M. Yocum & Company, the oldest, was founded in 1865; the First National was established in 1882, and the Farmers Co- operative State, in 1911. The three banks at Galva have a combined capital of $260,000, surplus of $178,000 and deposits of $2,372,000. The Galva News has been in operation since 1879. Bishop Hill is considerably less in popula- tion than Galva, and one small bank, founded in 1921, attends to all its local or controlled business. The foregoing are the main points in Henry County, which are historically interesting or substantially promising. THE HOCK RIVER VALLEY 679 AS AN AGRICULTURAL COUNTY Unequivocal statements have been made in this sketch of Henry County that, in many respects, this section of the Rock River Valley is unexcelled for its agricultural productions, embracing both the standard crops and live- stock. The only reliable source of comparison between the different counties of the valley in Wisconsin and Illinois is found in the Federal census figures for 1920. From this authority, which is accessible to all, it is seen that Henry county stands second among the twelve counties covered by this work in the total value of her agricultural property, which includes land, buildings, im- plements and live stock. Dane County, Wisconsin, comes first, with a total of $128,789,000; Henry second, with $127,092,000. In the value of her land, Henry is first, $96,623,000; Dane, second, $83,042,000. The chief crops of the seven Illinois counties in the Rock River Valley are corn, winter and spring wheat, oats, rye, barley, white and sweet potatoes and tame and wild hay. Measured by the value of all these crops produced in the Illinois Valley of the Rock River, Lee County comes first with its yield which realized a trifle over $8,000,000 and Henry second, with $7,757,000. Henry County led the Illinois counties of the Rock River Valley in the production of hay; more than 68,000 acres of her lands were devoted to that crop, and 130,000 tons were gathered from that area. Henry had no real competitor in the extent of her corn crop anywhere in the rich Valley of the Rock River. Her nearest rival was Lee County, which cultivated a slightly greater acreage to that cereal, but produced 1,000,000 bushels less. The comparative figures were 6,587,000 bushels of corn raised in Henry County against 5,412,000 bushels in Lee. When it comes to live stock, Henry is the foremost of the counties in the Rock River Valley of either Illinois or Wisconsin in the number and value of her beef cattle; Ogle County is her only close competitor. At that, the assessors valued the 55,637 beef cattle in Henry County at $3,593,000, as com- pared with the 39,656 cattle enumerated in Ogle County and assessed at $2,- 362,000. Henry is also a close second to Dane County, Wisconsin, as a raiser of horses. The figures are for Dane County — 27,711 horses valued at $2,294,000, as compared with 22,155 horses valued at $2,193,000 for Henry. In this comparative exhibit of the prominence of Henry County as an agri- cultural and live stock region unexcelled, as a whole, in the Rock River Valley, the only facts and figures adduced are those which show her rank as first or second in a group of counties which are among the richest and most developed in the Northwest. The picture of Henry County thus ends in a burst of agricultural glory. CHAPTER XXVIII ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, ILLINOIS ROCK ISLAND COUNTY ESTABLISHED POLITICALLY STEPHENSON BECOMES ROCK ISLAND DEVELOPMENT OF PRESENT CITY ROCK INLAND SCHOOLS — AUGUSTANA COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY THE BEGINNINGS OF THE INSTITUTION — JENNY LIND ASSISTS ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHED AUGUSTANA SYNOD ORGANIZED INSTITUTION OPENED IN CHICAGO THE PAXTON PERIOD — STRUCTURAL EXPANSION AT ROCK ISLAND THE MUSEUM THE DENKMANN ME- MORIAL LIBRARY THE WORLD WAR PERIOD THE NEW SEMINARY BUILDINGS SCHOLASTIC EXPANSION SCOPE OF THE INSTITUTION — PRESENT STATUS AND MOLDING FORCES PARKS CHURCHES — SOCIETIES, ASSOCIATIONS AND BENEVOLENT ORDERS THE ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL NEW STRONGHOLD IN THE MISSISSIPPI VAL- LEY THE BUILDING OF FORT ARMSTRONG A NUCLEUS OF SETTLEMENT — STUM- BLING BLOCKS IN THE WAY OF THE ORIGINAL PLAN — ARSENAL COMMANDANTS PRIOR TO THE WORLD WAR THE MILITARY PRISON (1863-65) — CONSTRUCTION BASIS LAID BY GENERALS RODMAN AND FLAGLER. — THE NEW BRIDGE BETWEEN ROCK ISLAND AND DAVENPORT DEMANDS OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR WORLD WAR EXPANSION — THE SAVANNA PROVING GROUND WAR SUBSCRIPTIONS — MILI- TARY PERSONNEL CIVILIAN AND MILITARY GUARD— BRIGADIER GENERAL GEORGE W. BURR COLONEL HARRY B. JORDAN COLONEL D. M. KING POST-WAR ACTIVI- TIES AND PRESENT STATUS WATER POWER, THE DECISIVE FACTOR — PEN PICTURE OF PRESENT-DAY ARSENAL — NEWSPAPERS AND BANKS — THE CITY OF MOLINE MOLINE AS A CORPORATION THE CITY OF THE PRESENT — MOLINE 's NEWSPAPERS PUBLIC DEPARTMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS THE PUBLIC PARKS BANKS CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES EAST MOLINE MINOR POINTS TOWNSHIPS OF THE COUNTY. Rock Island County, with its area of 424 square miles and population of more than 92,000 people, stretches in a long, semi-circular sweep along the Mississippi River and embraces the extreme lower reaches of the Rock River Valley as it merges into the parent stream. It was the seat of the white man's civilization and dominion of the noble valley and was already occupied when he came, as the keynote of the red man's dominion along the Mississippi and the interior of. the country for hundreds of miles. From the time the races commenced to clash the Rock Island region was the keenest and their most vital object of conten- tion. As an offset to the historic Indian village on the mainland, was erected Fort Armstrong on the opposite island. Black Hawk's Watch Tower was sym- bolic of the entire region from the standpoint of the red man. It was fore- ordained from geographical influences that the first battles for the control of the Rock River Valley should be fought at and near the present sites of Rock Island and Moline. All these matters have been fully traced in the chapters 680 THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING, MOLINE THIRD AVENUE AND 1DTII STREET, ROCK ISLAND 682 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY devoted to the pioneer settlers and settlements of the Valley, the Indian treaties and the culmination of the disagreements and minor physical clashes, in the Black Hawk war. ROCK ISLAND COUNTY ESTABLISHED POLITICALLY The Legislature created Rock Island County by name on February 9, 1831, but it was not organized for civil functioning until July 15, 1833. By that time Black Hawk and his hostile band had been crushed, and the conclusive treaty concluded at Fort Armstrong. Its boundaries were thus defined : Beginning in the channel of the Mississippi River on the north line of township 15, north, and west of the fourth principal meridian ; thence up the middle of said channel to the Marais d 'Osier slough, thence along the middle of said slough to the middle of the channel, and thence down the middle to the place of beginning. The sixty- five voters of the county met at the house of John Barrel, in the settlement on the mainland known as Farnhamsburg, and elected George W. Harlan, John W. Spencer and George Davenport, commissioners; Benjamin F. Pike, sheriff; Levi Wells, coroner; George W. Harlan, J. B. Patterson and Joel Wells, Jr., jus- tices of the peace ; George V. Miller, Huntington Wells and Edward Corbin, constables. Barrel 's house, where this first county election was held, was located about 500 feet west of the residence so long occupied by Ben. T. Cable, on Fifth Avenue, Rock Island. It was the temporary seat of the county government. In the spring of 1834, the only post office in the county was that on the island, which was reached by the ferry across the slough, but on March 4th a petition was presented that one be established on the mainland. The commissioners there- fore recommended to the postmaster general that such post office be opened at "Rock Island courthouse"; in other words, John Barrel's house — with Joseph Conway, postmaster. COUNTY SEAT AND COURTHOUSE AT STEPHENSON John Barrel's house did not long satisfy the people of Rock Island County as a worthy symbol of their political dignity. In June, 1835, commissioners appointed to locate the county seat fixed it upon the northwestern fractional quarter of section 25, township 18, north of range 5 and west of the principal meridian, and named it the town of Stephenson. The land selected for the loca- tion of the town was subsequently entered by the county commissioners. In November, 1835, the records and court of the county were moved from Farn- hamsburg to Stephenson, and in June of the following year a contract was let to Samuel Smith for the building of a brick courthouse at the determined county seat to cost $10,500. It was two stories in height and was completed in June, 1838. Stephenson, the new county seat, was incorporated in October, 1837. STEPHENSON BECOMES ROCK ISLAND By act of the Legislature February 27, 1841, the name of the town of Stephen- son, including all the additions thereto, was changed to that of Rock Island and under that name was incorporated as a city in 1849. In 1844, the dam THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 683 across the south channel of the Mississippi River from the island to the Illinois shore had been constructed by David B. Sears and his associates and he and others had erected a flour and grist mill, a foundry and machine shop and an implement, factory at the seat of the water power. The first of the municipal departments to be organized was that of the police, the first chief of whom was William T. Morris. The volunteer fire department was founded in 1855 by the organization of a company, of which George E. Biddison was president, and by the purchase of an engine, Western No. 1. The first steam engines were not bought until 1869 and 1871. DEVELOPMENT OF PRESENT CITY In February, 1857, a more comprehensive city charter was provided under which Rock Island operated until November, 1879, when, by popular election the incorporation was changed to an organization under the general laws of the State. The city continued to operate under the general law until January 4, 1911, when by a vote of 1,922 to 1,055 the commission form of government was adopted. It was put in operation April 6, 1911, the first commissioners being Henry Schrivcr, mayor ; Robert Reynolds, Archy Hat, Jonas Bear and Mar- tin Rudgren. The foundation of the pure and adequate water supply of Rock Island was laid in August, 1871, when its first pumping station and mains w r ere projected. In 1878 additions were made to the system and a mechanical filter installed. In 1897 Reservoir park was purchased by the city, and this elevated tract on the Mississippi River bluffs has since been the center and the foundation of the water system. The water is pumped directly from the river, filtered and distributed through the mains by force of gravity. With the increase of population, the extension and modernization of her municipal departments and the general expansion of a metropolitan spirit, Rock Island came to realize that the old county courthouse did not do her justice. In 1893, the first step toward erecting a structure more expressive of such a spirit was taken by Joseph Fitzpatrick, a supervisor of Black Hawk township, and in July of that year a committee reported in favor of building a new court- house to cost $125,000. Its corner-stone was laid October 1, 1896, with imposing public ceremonies. rock island's schools The Rock Island of the present is a bustling little city of about 36,000 peo- ple, with an industrial standing and well organized municipal departments for the conservation of the public health and the protection of life, limb and prop- erty. Prior to 1857, there were five separate school districts in Rock Island, each controlled by a different Board of Directors; but when the city obtained a special charter in February of that year, the Legislature created a local Board of Education. In April, 1858, the first members of that body were elected. The board was organized on the 14th, and, with the assistance of B. M. Reynolds, first superintendent of schools, and a select corps of eighteen teachers, worked out a course of study, from which has developed the intricate and thorough 684 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY curriculum of today. Rock Island includes in her present public system of education a modern high school, as well as a high school of Manual Arts, and fifteen graded schools. Outside of the public system are five parochial schools and a Hebrew free school and an old and established business college. The Augustana College and Theological Seminary is of such a remarkable character and such a noteworthy evidence of the Swedish-American vitality in the Rock River Valley that it is given special prominence at this place. AUGUSTANA COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY The most substantial and most imposing evidence of Swedish- American power and progress in the Rock River Valley, if not in Illinois, is the Augustana Col- lege and Theological Seminary at Rock Island. The stalwart influence and virility of that racial spirit of the north permeated the Middle West and the great Northwest, but the intellectual and moral force of the typical Swedish- American is evident in no more striking illustration than in the continued growth and present standing of that institution. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE INSTITUTION The Augustana College and Theological Seminary, which is educational in both an intellectual and moral and spiritual sense, had their beginnings in the activities of the pioneers from the North as far back as 1851. The Rev. Lars Paul Esbjorn, who had come to America in 1849 to be a missionary pastor among the Swedish settlers in the Middle West, soon felt the need of an institution of higher learning to secure a supply of pastors for the Swedish churches. But as the settlers were still too poor to establish such an institution he concluded that it would be best for them to cooperate with some other Lutheran body for the time being. He therefore arranged to have the Swedish students admitted to Capital University, at Columbus, Ohio, which belonged to the Joint Synod of Ohio. In the spring of 1851, Rev. Esbjorn took the first student to Capital Uni- versity. He had selected a promising candidate named Eric Norelius from the congregation at Andover, 111. This young man more than fulfilled the promise of his early days and in his later life became the leading figure in the Augustana Synod. JENNY LIND ASSISTS After leaving his student at Columbus, Rev. Esbjorn continued his journey eastward for the purpose of collecting funds for the erection of churches in the new Swedish settlements. In Boston, Mass., he met the great Swedish singer, Jenny Lind, who was making her American tour. She graciously donated $1,500 to the fund for building churches, and a few months later (November 5, 1851), while visiting Columbus and learning from Dr. M. W. Reynolds, the president of Capital University, that the school was serving the Swedish Lutherans, she also donated $1,500 to that institution. The money was designed to be the be- ginning of an endowment fund for the support of a Swedish professor and for aiding poor Swedish students. DR. T. N. HASSELQUIST First President of Augustana College after being located at Rock Island. 686 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHED Only a few Swedish students came to Capital University as it was situated too far east of the Swedish settlements. In the same year (1851). Rev. Esbjorn united with the Synod of Northern Illinois, which, cooperating with the Synod of Central Illinois, established a school known as the Illinois State University at Springfield, 111. In 1854, the Swedes and Norwegians belonging to the Missis- sippi Conference of the Synod of Northern Illinois, resolved to send their stu- dents to the Illinois State University. Rev. Esbjorn was made a director of the school, and the congregations began to contribute to a fund for the support of poor students at this institution. The Jenny Lind fund could not be trans- ferred to the Illinois institution and so proved to be of slight benefit to the Swedes. In 1855, the Mississippi Conference took another step forward by resolving to found a Scandinavian professorship at Springfield. Rev. Esbjorn was author- ized to collect money among the churches for this purpose. He took up this work in 1856 and collected over $2,000 that year. In 1857, he was called as Scan- dinavian professor and assumed his duties as such in the fall of 1858. Among his students at that time was numbered Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert, who at the time was taking up the special study of mathematics, in which subject Prof. Esbjorn was very proficient. In the spring of 1860, Professor Esbjorn resigned his chair. Differences with regard to the doctrinal basis of the synod had always existed between the Scandinavian and American members, and Professor Esbjorn 's resignation brought matters to a crisis. At Easter time, 1860, therefore, Professor Esbjorn, and all but two of the Scandinavian pupils, established themselves in Chicago. At a meeting held in that city, on the 27th of April, of that year, the Scandi- navians resolved to organize a separate synod and to found their own institution of learning; hence that day has since been observed by Augustana College . Theological Seminary as Founders' Day. AUGUSTANA SYNOD ORGANIZED The organization of the synod, which was to be known as the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod, was completed at a convention held at Jefferson Prairie, near Clinton, Wis., on June 5-11, the same year. The name Augustana was chosen for the synod and the seminary because this would give expression to the faith of the founders — Augustana being the Latin name for the Augsburg Confession. INSTITUTION OPENED IN CHICAGO The new institution of learning was opened in Chicago in September, 1860 with one professor (the ever faithful Rev. L. P. Esbjorn) and twenty-one stu- dents. The buildings used during this formative period consisted of a school house belonging to the Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church, on Superior Street between Wells and La Salle, Chicago, and later, the basement of the first Nor- wegian Lutheran Church. With the help of some of the city pastors and a few THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 687 of the older students as instructors, a fairly complete academic and theological course was furnished. The firsl of the collegiate societies to be formed was organized in 1860 during the first year of tin' Chicago period. It was called the Phrenokosmian Society, and its objed was (and is) to further the literary and intellectual development of its members. A weekly paper was formerly issued by the society. Students from any department of the institution may become members, and, upon leav- ing school, may be enrolled as honorary members. The Chicago location was never considered as permanent, and its affairs were also greatly unsettled by the disturbances of the Civil War. In 1861-62 only fourteen students attended and the same number in 1862-63. Among the young men who had left their studies to enlist in the army were two of Professor Esbjorn 's own sons. In 1863, the institution was incorporated under the name Augustana College and Seminary. In the meantime, Rev. 0. C. T. Andren was soliciting funds for the support of the enterprise in Sweden and Professor Esbjorn canvassed the home churches. Later, Rev. Esbjorn went to Sweden on the same mission, but returned to his duties as professor in the fall of 1862 and resigned in the spring of the follow- ing year to accept a call as pastor of a church in his fatherland. His departure was witnessed with the deepest regret. THE PAXTON PERIOD The efforts to find a permanent home for the institution resulted, in 1863, in the purchase of a tract of land at Paxton, 111., and in the fall of that year the college was moved from Chicago to that place. The local pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church there, Rev. T. N. Hasselquist, known as the Patriarch of the Augustana Synod, was called to fill the position vacated by Rev. Esbjorn. Dr. Hasselquist thus became president of the college and seminary — a position which he held until his death, February 4, 1891. In 1864, the institution received a gift of twenty acres of land on the out- skirts of Paxton from Mr. Pells of New York. On this tract were erected foyr additional frame buildings which were used as quarters for students and pro- fessors, for dining hall and recitation rooms. The means for the erection of these buildings came from commissions granted to the institution for selling rail- road lands to new settlers. Additional land was also purchased for the college, and this brought in considerable revenue, as it was later sold in small lots at higher prices. The Augustana College and Seminary was chartered by legislative act ap- proved February 16, 1865, and amended March 10, 1869. By the amendment the title of the institution became Augustana College and Theological Seminary, as at present. The basis of the institution was therefore laid in the original constitution adopted at the Synodical meeting held al Clinton, Wis., in 1860, and the legislative act of 1865, as amended in 1869. Under its amended charter, Krland Carlsson, T. N. Hasselquist, Carl Johan P. Peterson, Iver Lawson, John Amondson, Carl Stromberg and John Field, were constituted the first Board of Trustees or Directors of the corporation, which should "have power to estab- lish and maintain in or near the town of Paxton, Ford County. Illinois, or any 688 THE KOCK RIVER VALLEY other suitable place within the State of Illinois, a college and theological sem- inary under the patronage and control of the Scandinavian Evangelical Luth- eran Augustana Synod of North America," The members of this board of control must be connected with the Lutheran Church, and the property of the corporation, not to exceed $100,000, was forever to remain free from taxation. The doctrinal tenets of the institution were thus defined : ' ' The doctrines taught in the seminary department of said institution shall conform to and be in har- mony with the doctrines held and maintained by the Augustana Synod as defined in Article two of the constitution of said synod, in the following words, to-wit : 'As a Christian body in general, particularly as an Evangelical Lutheran, this synod acknowledges that the Holy Scriptures, the revealed word of God, are the only sufficient and infallible rule and standard of faith and practice, and also retains and confesses not only the three oldest symbols (the Apostolic, the Nicene and the Athanasian), but also the unaltered Augsberg Confession, as a short and correct summary of the principal Christian doctrines as understood and explained in the other symbolic books of the Lutheran Church.' The period during which the site of the institution was at Paxton covered twelve years, from 1863 to 1875, and one who had a vital part in its upbuilding writes of it thus : "It was a period of struggle and poverty, but also of con- secration and lofty ideals. It was during this time that the men who are noAv the leaders in the synod received their education in the peaceful seclusion and pious atmosphere of the Paxton class rooms." Until 1866 there were no special college classes — most of the emphasis being laid on the seminary work. Year by year the course was lengthened both in col- lege and seminary until in 1876 the goal of a full-fledged collegiate and theolog- ical institution was reached. In 1870, the Norwegians organized a synod of their own, and consequently also established a college and seminary for their exclusive use. This institution was called Augustana College and is now located in Canton, South Dakota. Within a short time after the school had been opened at Paxton, it became evident that the location was not the best that could have been selected. The Scandinavians had settled in the north and west rather than the south and east, and the synod's center of population moved rapidly northwestward. In 1868 the synod discussed the question of a more central location for its educa- tional institution, but not until 1871 was any definite action taken. In the lat- ter year it was decided to look for a suitable location in northern or western Illinois. In 1873 it was decided to purchase land and erect buildings for the school in Rock Island. In the spring of 1875, the last commencement was held at Paxton, and in the fall of the same year the school was opened at Rock Island. STRUCTURAL EXPANSION AT ROCK ISLAND The first building at Rock Island was begun in 1874 and was not entirely completed in the fall of 1875 when the professors and students arrived from Paxton, but this caused only slight inconvenience and the work went on as usual. In the plant as it now stands, the Old College Building (so-called) serves as the main dormitory and contains the household department and class rooms of the commercial department. d /. -. > > r r M - X d a M C r O r. I-H SB H g — > - W H /. r > 2 690 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY At the time the college and seminary were moved from Paxton to Rock Island, the campus contained about nineteen acres situated on the bluff over- looking the Mississippi and the Rock Island Arsenal. Since then more ground below the bluff has been added, so that today the site includes thirty-six acres. No better location could be conceived combining healthfulness with beauty and grandeur of outlook. THE MUSEUM In the Augustana College and Seminary at Paxton was a little curio cabinet. It was moved into the Old College Building and became the ancestor of the Augustana Museum of Natural History, which expanded into one of the most striking features of the institution and was finally installed in the Boys' Dormi- tory. The museum owes its real foundation and decisive expansion to Dr. Joshua Lindahl, a native of Sweden and an eminent zoologist of his native land before he came to America as secretary of the Royal Swedish Commission to the Centennial Exposition, at Philadelphia. In 1878, he was elected to fill the newly created chair of natural history at Augustana, and in the following year re- ceived the added title of "curator of the museum." Under his skilled and learned development, the museum continually increased in interest and educa- tional importance. Toward the last of his incumbency, in 1887, Dr. Lindahl spent some time on the Pacific coast making and classifying original collections. The year 1888, momentous in the development of Augustana, brought im- portant changes to the museum. In February of that year the New College Building (now Old Main), begun four years earlier, was opened for use. The massive structure was then regarded as "the finest and most imposing building in the Three Cities," and even as "one of the finest college buildings in the coun- try." Ever since the building project had been launched, there had been an understanding to the effect that the museum and library should at last be given ample quarters of their own. Consequently, the third floor of the New College Building was reserved for the museum, the library and the conservatory music. The museum was lodged in the large room in the northwest corner. In the summer of 1888, Dr. Lindahl was elected curator of the State Museum of Natural History at Springfield, and his connection with Augustana thereby ceased. The good work he inaugurated and so well continued was taken up 1> Dr. J. A. Udden, and since the latter 's retirement in 1911, the successive librarians have served as curators. THE DENKMANN MEMORIAL LIBRARY Within the past fourteen years, have occurred the most noteworthy events in connection with the structural expansion of Augustana College and Theolog- ical Seminary. The largest gift ever received by the institution was the Denk- maiin Memorial Library. This imposing and graceful building surmounting the highest eminence of the grounds was completed in the spring of 1911 at a cost of over $200,000. It is a gift to the institution of the sons and daughters of the late Mr. and Mrs. Frederick C. A. Denkmann. The wealthy lumber manu- facturer and his faithful wife had thoughts far above mere monev-makins}:. "While THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 691 they lived, their benevolences were many, though modestly bestowed. Mr. Denk- iiiiinii died in 1905 and his wife two years later, and, holding the wealth with which they had been blessed as stewards of the Lord, they had often discussed with their sons and daughters how a goodly portion of it should be best be- stowed. Iu all these conferences the objects and needs of Augustana most fre- quently and deeply appealed to them. Mrs. Denkmann passed away in 1907. In January. 1909, the Deiiknianns were gathered at a family reunion in the old homestead built by the parents at the foot of Fourth Avenue in Rock Island. At this gathering, the final plans were laid for a donation to Augustana College in the form of a library building to be dedicated to the memory of the parents. The president of Augustana was called in to receive the formal announcement that the proposed building was to be erected at a cost of not less than $100,000. In the evening of the day when Dr. Andrew made the announcement, the stu- dent body, ''delirious with joy," as the press stated it, with an ardor which the heavy downpour of rain could not quench, formed a torchlight procession and visited the homes of the donors to express their overflowing gratitude. The location selected for the library was on the college grounds at the corner of Thirty-fifth Street and Seventh Avenue, now made into a beautiful boulevard connecting the cities of Rock Island and Moline. From this point the spectator has a splendid view of the Mississippi Valley and the Rock Island Arsenal directly in front of him, and he looks dowm upon a scene of rare beauty and one instinct with the life of industry, in which Mr. Denkmann moved and lived, but in which he did not have his entire being. In September, 1909, ground was broken, and the concrete foundation and massive walls of grey Missouri limestone, with tiled roof, ornamental pillars, frieze and other elements of the Italian renaissance, arose and were welded together to form an architectural thing of beauty and utility. The corner-stone of the building was laid on January 21st and the exercises which marked the formal dedication of the library occurred on May 31, 1911. As completed, the building is 120 feet long and 96 feet deep, and its major portion has three floors. The first floor contains the Memorial Hall, with mosaic floors and walls lined with huge slabs of Italian marble. The bronze memorial tablet, the central feature of the hall, briefly tells the story of the munificent gift in these words: "This library is erected to the memory of Frederick C. A. Denkmann (1822-1905) and his wife Anna Catherine Denkmann (1831-1907) by their children, Marie A. Reimers, Apollonia D. Davis, Elise D. Marshall, Catherine D. Wentworth, Susanne C. Denkmann and Frederick C. Denkmann, and by them presented to Augustana College and Theological Seminary. This tablet is here placed by the directors of the institution as a token of gratitude for this munificent gift to the cause of Christian learning, and of admiration for the filial love which reared this noble memorial. A. D. 1910." On the first floor of the building, with Memorial Hall, arc a lecture room equipped with modern appliances for illustrated scientific lectures, and the ad- ministration offices of the institution. From either side of Memorial Hall wide marble staircases lead to the second floor, on which are the reading room and the librarian's offices. The reading room, extending the full length of the build- ing, is elegant and comfortable, and the shelving about the walls accommodates about ")00 current periodicals and 3.000 reference volumes. Directly above the Vol. 11—44 692 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY reading room is the museum, lighted from above. In the rear of the building is a basement containing a packing room and rest rooms for ladies and men. Above the basement is the stack shaft for the circulating library, and above this, store rooms for newspaper and magazine collections. The library now contains more than 38,000 bound volumes and 34,000 pamphlets, the latter being chiefly scien- tific publications received in exchange for the Augustana Library Publications. There are large special collections on missions and files of Swedish-American newspapers and periodicals; the latter is said to be the largest collection of its kind in the world. The largest single addition to the library within recent years was made in 1920 and consisted of 2,600 volumes and 2,700 pamphlets compris- ing the private library of Bishop von Scheele of Sweden. But, as a whole, the library had its nucleus in a few hundred volumes donated to the college by King Charles XV of Sweden in 1861. From such tiny acorns sturdy oaks come forth, such as the collections now housed by the massive and beautiful Denkmann Memorial Library. THE WORLD WAR PERIOD Augustana, as a patriotic institution, acquitted herself during the World war as everybody knew she would. Swedish- Americans can always be relied upon to support a good cause, whether an educational institution in which they be- lieve, or their beloved country which has spelt progress and happiness to them for many generations. It is estimated that the Augustana Synod enrolled within its jurisdiction upward of 15,000 representatives of the Army and Navy of the United States during the period of hostilities. During 1917 and 1918, the col- lege and seminary alone sent forth 250 of its students into Uncle Sam 's service, and many of them went overseas. At the first call of President Wilson, in April, 1917, the entire band and a number of others enlisted, placing Augustana at once among the foremost colleges who sent their students into military service. Military instruction was given on the college campus and in the splendid gym- nasium which had recently been completed. The latter, with its swimming pool, facilities for athletic training and handsome auditorium, stage and pipe organ, became an active center of war movements, the inspiring influences of which were manifest beyond the radius of the institution itself. THE NEW SEMINARY BUILDINGS The short period from November 4th to the 6th, 1923, will always stand out as days of more than ordinary significance in the history of Augustana College and Theological Seminary. The Theological Seminary, the only complete and fully equipped post-graduate department of the school, had always been housed under the same roof with the college. But from the time of the completion of the seminary buildings on Zion Hill, that distinct division of the institution stood forth with its own buildings and organized bodies. The dedication of these buildings, the installation of G. A. Brandelle as president of the synod and the active participation of Archbishop Nathan Soderblom in the exercises, were the outstanding features of the festivities of those days. This enlightening and true statement was made at the time the Theological NEW SEMINARY BUILDINGS, AUGUSTANA COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ROCK ISLAND 694 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Seminary became a distinct entity: "Three men are especially gratified at the completion of the seminary buildings, the indefatigable president, Dr. Gustav Andreen, who more than anyone has worked for the realization of this idea and who never felt at ease before it was accomplished; Professor Emeritus Dr. N. Forsander, who first became connected with the seminary in 1889, and was elected regular professor of theology in the following year, together with Dr. C. E. Lindberg, the present dean." During the impressive exercises attending the formal dedication of the sem- inary buildings official greetings from Gustav V, the king of Sweden, were read by the Swedish consul, Carl 0. de Dardell. Archbishop Soderblom also brought greetings from the theological Chapter and University of Uppsala to Augustana College, and delivered the dedicatory greetings to, and the prayer for the daugh- ter church in America from the mother church in Sweden. The exercises were brought to a fitting close when he, as head and representative of the Swedish Lutheran Church, called down from above the richest blessings upon the work to be done and upon those who are to perform it. The new seminary buildings on Zion Hill comprise two structures connected by a cloister. The one building is devoted to instruction, administration, library purposes and worship ; the other is a residence hall with rooms for students, and social, dining, guest and janitor's rooms. The cloister connecting the two build- ings is a Gothic arcade about eleven feet inside width, with seven arches on the north side. This feature gives the group a scholastic impression. The chapel is in the second story directly above the library. SCHOLASTIC EXPANSION Under the foregoing head will be noted the establishment of the various de- partments now embraced in the curriculum of the college proper, as well as the formation of the several schools included in the institution. Prom four profes- sors on the teaching staff in 1875 when the college and seminary first opened their doors at Rock Island, the force of instruction has increased to more than sixty professors and instructors. A dozen departments have gradually been established in the college, viz. : English and Philosophy, Swedish, Latin, Greek, Modern Languages, Christianity, History and Political Science, Biology and Geology, Physics and Chemistry, Mathematics, Astronomy and Education. The first class to be graduated in the full collegiate course was that of 1877. The graduates of Augustana College are received at all American Universities, and in 1879, royal permission was granted to Augustana graduates to enter Upp- sala University in Sweden without further examination. Ladies were admitted to the classes in 1880, but were not permitted to matriculate until 1886. In 1885, a conservatory of music was opened, although the study of music had been a part of the course since 1873. The development of the conservatory idea is due to Dr. 0. Olsson, who organized the first Messiah chorus ever trained in Illinois. He became president of the Institution in 1891 and served until his death in 1900. Handel's Messiah was first rendered at Augustana College in 1891. To the conservatory were added a school of expression in 1897 and a school of art in the same year. A school of commerce was added to the departments of instruction in 1898. THE ROCK! RIVER VALLEY 695 All students who enroll themselves in cither the conservatory of music or the school of commerce also receive instruction in certain academy subjects. A separate normal department was maintained until the State passed a law granting teachers 1 certificates to all college graduates. All departments of the institution, except the Theological Seminary, are open to students of both sexes. SCOPE OF THE INSTITUTION Augustana College and Theological Seminary is owned and supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod of North America. While, therefore, a denominational institution, and, as such, aiming to serve primarily the interests of the Lutheran Church, it is not sectarian in any narrow sense of the word. It throws its doors open to all who desire a liberal education based on the Chris- tian religion and permeated by the Christian spirit. Its original scope, which was that of a school for the education of ministers of the gospel has, from time to time, been broadened, so that at the present time the institution, while retain- ing the Theological Seminary as a university department, aims to prepare its students for all occupations and professions by laying the groundwork for the general culture or the special training which modern conditions require. Although the English language is used as the medium of instruction in all subjects except the Swedish language and literature and some of theological branches, a prominent position in the curriculum is accorded to the exposition of the history and world-influence of the Northland. This is not only because the institution is mindful both of its origin and its mission as an exponent of Swedish-American culture, but because it studies to supply the present-day, practical needs of its students. For graduation in the College Department 120 credits are required. These credits must be acquired in one of ten parallel courses or "groups" as follows: Classical Languages, Modern Languages, Latin and Science, Physical Science, Biological Science, Mathematics, English, History, Education, Economics and Commerce. PRESENT STATUS AND MOLDING FORCES The location of the institution is such as to leave little to be desired on the score of accessibility, healthfulness and beauty of surroundings. It is the object of the management to throw about the student all the influences which favor a healthy and harmonious physical, mental and moral development. All these advantages and influences, so emphasized by an earnest, faithful and able fac- ulty, and hundreds of unwavering friends, who have supported and developed the institution by their sacrifices of time, energy and money, have built up an efficient college and seminary attended by more than 1,100 students, the ma- jority of whom are Swedish-Americans. It is instructive also to know that in the student body the women equal the men in number. During the school year 1923-24, the Theological Seminary had an enrollment of 99 males; the collegiate department, of 239 males and 181 females; the academic department (including the school of commerce), 54 males and 52 females; the conservatory of music. 696 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 190 males and 317 females; the school* of art and elocution, 5 males and 24 females, and the summer schools, 58 males and 175 females. In the course of this narrative, credit has been given to many strong and earnest men who have spent years in planting and nourishing the institution from infancy to a stalwart maturity. Limited space makes it necessary to omit many names and personalities from this roll of honor. In this summary of the forces which have molded Augustana College and Theological Seminary to its present form, which radiates strength and vitality, should be mentioned together the names of its presidents, viz : Rev. L. P. Esbjorn, 1860-63 ; Rev. T. N. Has- selquist, D. D., 1863-91 ; Rev. 0. Olsson, Ph. D., D. D. 1891-1900 ; Rev. Gustav Andreen, Ph. D., D. D., the present incumbent. At the death of President Olsson in 1900, the synod extended a call to Dr. C. A. Swensson, of Lindsborg, Kansas, who failed to accept. The following year Dr. Andreen was called to the presidency, and has served the institution faithfully and creditably since 1901. Since the institution was established at Rock Island, its vice presidents have been as follows: Rev. H. Reck, A. M., 1875-81; Rev. C. O. Granere, Ph. D., 1883-86; A. W. Williamson, Ph. D., 1886-89; C. W. Foss, Ph. D., 1889-1901; Rev. C. E. Lindberg, D. D., 1901-10 ; C. L. E. Esbjorn, A. M., 1910-1911 ; Rev. E. F. Bartholomew, D. D., 1911-1919; Prof. I. M. Anderson, 1919; Dr. S. G. Youngert, 1920 to date. Dr. C. E. Lindberg is dean of the Theological Sem- inary, Prof. J. Mountzon dean of the College Department, Dr. A. W. Kjellotard principal of the Academy, and Prof. A. Cyril Graham director of the Con- servatory. At Augustana Seminary 1,036 students have studied, of which almost 700 have also studied at Augustana College. About 40 of these pastors have gone out as missionaries in heathen lands. In 1875 the College Department had 26 members. This year, 1925, the Col- lege Department has a membership of over 500 with a Freshman class of 220. The first class which received the degree of Bachelor of Arts was the one of 1877. The number of those who during the past 48 years have been graduated from the college amounts to 937. The total number of those who have attended Augustana College and Theological Seminar}^ during the last fifty years is about 12,000 individuals. Previous to the year 1888, there was no evidence of any park system in the city of Rock Island, but in that year William Jackson was appointed by Mayor William McConochie as park commissioner. Spencer Square, on Second Ave- nue, had been taking shape as a public park since 1836, and in 1888 Mr. Jack- son commenced to improve and beautify the grounds which, for all these years, had been reserved for public purposes. Ben T. Cable and Mrs. Lucy Castleman presented the beautiful fountain and Otis J. Dimick, the granite statue of Black Hawk which adorned the square, first known as Union. Longview Park, of about forty acres, overlooks the Mississippi River, and was mainly donated b}- Frederick Weyerhaeuser, Morris Rosenfield, Charles H. Deer'e and Captain T. J. Robinson. Of a later date is the Watch Tower park of twenty-three acres at the east end of the Mississippi overlooking the Missis- sippi Valley, with the mouth of the Rock River in the dim distance. It was named in memory of the historic Black Hawk and his outlook, the latter being embraced in its grounds. THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 697 It has been a Long and struggling period since those days of the '20s of the nineteenth century, when the first missionaries held services at Fort Armstrong, and the Presbyterians organized at Rock Island in 1837, and the Methodists and Catholics in 1850 and 1851, the general result has been to found about thirty churches of various denominations in the city of Rock Island. There are seven organizations of Presbyterians, tive of Evangelical Lutheran, four each of Ro- man Catholics and Methodists, three each of Baptists and Christians, two of Hebrews, and one each of Free Methodists, Episcopalians and Christian Scien- tists. The Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints, Salvation Army, West End Settlement and Volunteer Rescue Army are also organized. In connection with church and charitable work there are also six asylums, convents and homes and two hospitals (Catholic and the Detention Hospital of Rock Island). SOCIETIES, ASSOCIATIONS AND SOCIAL AND BENEVOLENT ORDERS The cities of Rock Island, Moline and Davenport are so closely affiliated that their trade unions are in close cooperation. Numbering more than eighty, they are organized into a central body known as the Tri-City Federation of Labor, which meets at the Industrial Home in Rock Island. The Young Men's Christian Association was organized April 20, 1884, and first held its meetings in rooms on Second Avenue. On January 30, 1887, a little girl named Anna Stewart gave fifty cents to the Workers' Bible Training class with which to start a building fund for a young men's home in Rock Island; this particular meeting was being held at Reynolds, Rock Island County. Through other organizations, chiefly of women, the building fund grew, and the corner stone of a $41,000 building was finally laid in June, 1890, and dedicated in January, 1894. That home was outgrown, and in 1912 the prominent busi- ness men of the city got together and in a week raised $127,000 for a new V. M. C. A. Its corner-stone was laid December 8, 1912, and in the following year the structure was occupied. The home stands at the corner of Fifth Ave- nue and Twentieth Street, and presents all the comforts, conveniences and amusements usually to be found in such establishments. There is also a well organized and managed Y. W. C. A. near Fifteenth Street and Third Avenue. Among the most flourishing social organizations of Rock Island are the Woman's Club and the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs. The patriotic societies are represented by the D. A. R. and the G. A. R. — the latter with its post and Ladies' Relief Corps, each thinning perceptibly, year by year — as well as the United Spanish War Veterans (camp and Women's Auxiliary). All the secret and benevolent orders, whether of early or late origin, are active in Rock Island. Odd Fellowship and Masonry came to Rock Island in the late '40s. The I. O. O. P. was organized August 25, 1846, with Rock Island Lodge No. 18, and is represented locally by five bodies. The eleven bodies, or degrees of Masons, had their origin in Trio Lodge No. ">7. It grew from a lodge formed in Cambridge, Henry County, in the fall of 1847, and whose members met alternately there and at Rock Island. As these places are thirty miles apart, on .May 18, 1848, the Rock Island members formed an independent lodge. Trio Lodge No. 57 was adopted as its name, in honor of Rock Island. .Moline and 698 THE KOCK RIVER VALLEY Camden Mills, which were to be included in its jurisdiction. As the dispensa- tion for its organization was granted by the Grand Lodge on June 1, 1848, Masonry in Rock Island County dates from that time. The first Knights of Pythias Lodge in the county was organized in Moline, in 1872, and it was not until July 10, 1882, that St. Paul Lodge 107 was formed in Rock Island. The five camps of the Modern Woodmen of America all sprung from the parent organization founded at Lyons, Clinton County, Iowa, in January, 1883. In 1899, the society moved its national headquarters from Fulton to Rock Island, 111., where it occupies a handsome steel and pressed brick building owned by the order. The Elks, Eagles, Moose and Knights of Columbus (Catholic) were established at a later day. THE ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL This great national institution, one of the largest and most remarkable war shops of the world, is a historical link connecting Rock Island, Moline and the region round-about, and the story of its development is here given. Both the geographical position and the geological construction of the Rocky Island which split the channel of the Mississippi River a short distance south of the juncture of the parent stream with the Rock River predestined that island as a military key to the control of the great valley and its tributary waterways coursing from the Great Lakes to the southwest. The people which should seize the key would place no weak bar against the oncoming of the Sioux and other tribes from the north and west, as well as against the incursions of hostile Indians from the northeast, whose natural highways of travel were through the valleys of the Wisconsin, the Rock and the Illinois rivers. NEW STRONGHOLD IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY As the War of 1812 progressed, it became evident that the final struggle for the control, ownership and settlement of the Mississippi Valley was solely be- tween the British and the Americans, and that the power which should be firmly planted at the chief strategic points therein would eventually come into posses- sion of that wonderful region. Before the whites of any race could be induced to settle, they must be assured of centers of refuge from the attacks of the pow- erful Indian tribes crowding down the valley from the north and following the interior waterways joining the Mississippi from the northeast. St. Louis was the great military center of the Southwest and was the watch-tower for not only the mouth of the Missouri but for the mouth of the Illinois, a short distance to the north and on the other side of the valley. In 1814, the Americans had built and were endeavoring to hold Fort Selby (Prairie du Chien), at the mouth of the Wisconsin River, the defeat of Lieutenant Campbell and Zachary Taylor, in the Moline-Rock Island region being discouraging, but by no means, crushing features in this general plan of temporary occupancy and permanent posses- sion. A strong military center between St. Louis and Prairie du Chien, which should overlook the Indian country to the west, the east and the north, was nec- essary in order that the Americans should retain the western country which they had wrested from the British. It was also necessary that such a center (Through the courtesy of the Rock Island Arsenal) 1. INSERT: FIRST PERMANENT ARSENAL BUILDING. ERECTED IN 1863 AT WEST END OF ISLAND. KNOWN AS OLD STONE WAREHOUSE. 2. REAR VIEW OF ORIGINAL ARSENAL SHOPS. 700 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY should be at or near the mouth of the Rock River, that the troops might keep an eye on Black Hawk's Village, which had already been marked by red and white alike as the hotbed of race conflict. The attack and siege of Fort Madison, between the Big Cedar and the Des Moines, on the western shores of the Mis- sissippi, had proven that although that locality might be favorable for a trad- ing post its isolated position made it useless for military purposes. While the site for Fort Madison was being selected, Pike described the Rocky Island in the eastern waters of the Mississippi as well adapted for the establish- ment of a military stronghold, if objection should be made to the site chosen on the west side of the river. Unfortunately, objection was not made, and Fort Madison was built. After the fierce Indian attack upon the western fort, in the fall of 1812, had thoroughly demonstrated its weakness, the authorities of Illinois Territory de- manded protection from the Indians who might have an almost unimpeded sweep to what we now call southern Illinois. The only considerable white settle- ments were south of the present Alton area. At the beginning of the War of 1812, Governor Ninian Edwards wrote: "I believe there is a universal com- bination among the Indians. Independent of the Indians west of the Missis- sippi and 300 lodges of Sioux on the Wisconsin, we may certainly count on 4,400 who can reach the settlements on the Mississippi in six or eight days, and come all the way by water. Our danger, therefore, is very evident." The disasters to American expeditions in 1814, designed both to reestablish Fort Selby and to crush Black Hawk and his village, seemed at first to confirm the British and their Indian allies in the possession of the Mississippi Valley from the St. Louis- Alton area to Prairie du Chien. Fortunately, the War of 1812 was not decided in the Mississippi Valley, but although the Treaty of Ghent was not fully rati- fied until February, 1815, Black Hawk and his followers continued their attacks upon settlers on the west side of the Mississippi. In the summer and fall of 1815, notwithstanding the counter efforts of Brit- ish agents, the hostile tribes on both sides of the Mississippi, with the exception of Black Hawk's band, had made peace with the United States. The Sauk of the Missouri River had also formally separated themselves from the enemy Sauk of the Rock River. It was not until the 13th of May, 1816, that the fierce and rugged Sauk warrior and his head men accepted the proffered friendship of the United States, and confirmed the treaty of 1804 ceding their lands in eastern Missouri, southern Wisconsin and northern and western Illinois to the United States, with the expressed proviso that they should be permitted to live and hunt on them as long as they were within the territory of that nation. But even this treaty failed to bring either peace or protection; for the military au- thorities were still intent on the establishment of a military post near the mouth of the Rock River, which should counteract the menace of Black Hawk's village of Saukenuk. THE BUILDING OP FORT ARMSTRONG About a year after Zachary Taylor's weak expedition was turned back from the Rock Island region by an overwhelming force of Sauk and by British cannon, the Eighth United States Infantry, under command of Colonel R C. TIIK ROCK RIVER VALLEY 701 Nichols, left Fort Independence, St. Louis, to establish a fori Dear the mouth of the Rock River. The troops started in September and in November had only reached the Des Moines River, when it went into winter quarters. There, for some unexplained reason, Colonel Nichols was placed under arrest and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel William Lawrence was placed in charge. In April, 1811). Brevet Brigadier General Thomas A. Smith, colonel of the rifle regi- ment, arrived with his command and prepared to lead the entire expedition on its mission northward. Up to this time, all efforts to make peace with Black Hawk and his warriors had failed, and the troops proceeded up the .Mississippi, arriving at the mouth of Rock River early in May, 1816. On the north bank of the Rock River, near its entrance to the Mississippi, was Black Hawk's great village. In the Mississippi River, nearly opposite the Sauk Indian village, was the wooded and rocky island, nearly three miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, so well known by military authorities, and at least designated by Pike, as a likely site for a government fort. It had a base of hard limestone, which outcropped at the western or lower end as a high, almost perpendicular wall. The main channel of the Mississippi swept along its northern banks and its southern shores, for several miles above were scoured by a series of rapids which prevented any but the smaller boats from navigating its waters in that direction. They also passed along Campbell's Island, the scene of the Amer- ican disaster, several miles above. In the main channel of the Mississippi, opposite the upper end of the Rocky Island, was a small island known as Credit, which marked the scene of Taylor's defeat. All of these islands were favorite haunts of the Indians and the larger one was so massive, picturesque, striking and weird that it was credited with being the abiding place of a guardian spirit of the Sauk tribe. After a thorough examination of the locality near the mouth of the Rock- River, General Smith and his fellow officers selected the foot of the larger island, with its imposing natural rampart, as the site of the projected fort, and on May 10th the troops were landed and set to work cutting trees and quarrying stone. General Smith remained on the island only long enough to see that the troops were provided with proper shelter and protection, and then with his rifle regiment went up the river to Prairie du Chien. Before leaving he sent a messenger to the Sauk and Foxes at their village of Saukenuk inviting them to a treaty council, but they refused his proffer of concilia- tion, and the construction of the fort proceeded under the superintendency of Colonel Lawrence. The work had been going on but a few days before the Sauk concluded their treaty of peace. Whether the commencement of its construction had any bearing on their peaceful attitude is a matter only of speculation. The negotiation of the treaty did not halt the building of the fort, which was named Armstrong, in honor of General John Armstrong, the former secretary of war. As the work on Fort Armstrong progressed, the Indians began crossing from the mainland to the island, watching the soldiers at their labors and sometimes singing and dancing for them. There are stories told, however, that the red men \\i-rr not as friendly as they sometimes appeared. In one of his 702 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY reminiscences Bailey Davenport says : ' ' One day a small party came over to dance, and after the dance the colonel in command gave them presents. A few days afterward and while a large number of soldiers were out cutting timber, a large party of warriors, headed by Nekalequat, came over in canoes and landed on the north side of the island, danced up to the entrance of the encampment and wanted to enter and dance in front of the commander's tent. About the same time a large party of warriors was discovered approaching over the ridge from the south side of the island, headed by Keokuk. The Colonel immediately ordered the bugle sounded to recall the soldiers from the woods, and had all under arms (about 600) and the cannon run out in front of the entrance ready to fire. The Indians were ordered not to approach any nearer. The colonel, taking the alarm before Keokuk's party got near enough to rush in, saved the encampment from surprise and massacre." Black Hawk, in his Autobiography, does not mention this. But he does mention the building of the fort thus : ' ' We did not try to prevent their building the fort on the island, but we were very sorry, as this was the best island on the Mississippi, and had long been the resort of our young people during the summer. It was our garden (like the white people have near their big villages) which supplied us with strawberries, blackberries, plums, apples and nuts of various kinds; and its waters supplied us with pure fish, being situated in the rapids of the river. In my early days I spent many happy days on this island." Whether Black Hawk really believed that the noises of axes, hammers and saws, and the rasping of iron bars and steel chisels as the limestone of the island was built into the stockade, the magazine and the fort, frightened away the great white Swan, or Good Spirit, from her shadowy cave in the fastnesses of Rocky Island, or whether he used the image to arouse opposition against the soldiers who were occupying this gem of his old home-land, may be food for speculation, but not for useful thought. Fort Armstrong was completed in 1817, and two years afterward an army officer on a tour of inspection describes it as follows : ' ' This fort is about 270 feet square, with three block houses mounting three six-pounders. The bar- racks are well constructed of hewed timber and are sufficiently extensive to quarter three companies. The magazine is of stone and well built. The com- manding officers' quarters consists of a center two-story building, 28 feet in length and a piazza built in front and rear. The fort is built on the lower point of Rock Island and upon a perpendicular bank of limestone about twenty- five feet in height. It completely commands both channels of the river." Governor Ford's description of the fort, which follows, is a little more pic- turesque : ' ' The river here is a beautiful sheet of clear, swift-running water, about three-quarters of a mile wide. Its banks on both sides were uninhabited except by Indians from the lower rapids to the fort, and the voyagers up- stream, after several days' solitary progress through a wilderness country on its borders, came suddenly in sight of the whitewashed walls and towers of the fort perched upon a rock, surrounded by the grandeur and beauty of nature, which at a distance gave it the appearance of one of those enchanted castles in an uninhabited desert so well described in the Arabian Nights Enter- tainment." THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 703 A NUCLEUS OP SETTLEMENT Fori Armstrong was the natural nucleus of settlement for the neighboring country mi both si. lis of the Mississippi, as well as on the island itself, which looked to its garrison for protection. George Davenport, the English soldier and contractor for army supplies, who had fought with the Americans and accompanied the Eighth Regiment which had been assigned to Fort Armstrong, had much to do with locating the site of the military post at the lower end of the island. He built a double log house a short distance from the fort, near the northern shore of the island and looking across the main channel of the Mississippi. He finished the house, a combined family home and store, about the time the fort was completed and occupied it for sixteen years. In 1824, Russell Farnham came from Warsaw, a river settlement to the south, and entered into a partnership with Davenport in the business of trading with the Indians and supplying the garrison with provisions. Two years afterward, under the firm name of Davenport & Farnham, they built a house on the mainland afterward occupied by John Barrel. The building was used for many years as the seat of justice for Rock Island County and the official records refer to it as "the house of John Barrel." The large two-story frame house which replaced the log cabin was completed by Colonel Davenport in 1833, and it is here that he was robbed and murdered on July 4, 1845. Until 1906, the house was left as it stood at the time of the tragedy. It was gradually falling into decay, but in the year named the Old Settlers Association of Rock Island County secured permission from the government to restore it as it was in the life of Colonel Davenport. This was done, and as the building stands it represents by far the oldest structure on the island. Although the country along Rock River had not been surveyed in 1828, and was therefore not open to entry, settlers commenced to arrive in the Valley during that year relying upon the protection of Fort Armstrong to main- tain their homesteads. Eight settlers arrived in 1828, five of them locating at the site of Rapids City, fourteen miles above the fort. More came in 1829, some settling on the Rock River and others in the Rock Island-Moline region. These squatters all located outside the limits of Rocky Island, as in 1825 the "War Department had formally asserted its claim to the entire tract. It was not until the garrison at Fort Armstrong was withdrawn in 1836 that the Government commenced to have trouble with settlers on the fertile and beautiful island. THE FORT EVACUATED AND PLACED IN CUSTODY On the 4th of May, 1836, Fort Armstrong was evacuated and the troops sent to Fort Snelling. Lieutenant Colonel William Davenport was in com- mand at that time and he left Lieutenant John Beach, of the infantry, in charge of a few men to care for the property. The fort was never re-garrisoned. In November, 1836, Lieutenant Beach was ordered elsewhere and all the property was moved. From 1836 to 1838, General Street, Indian agent, had charge of the island, 704 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY and he was succeeded by Colonel George Davenport who had been appointed to that position. In 1840, some of the garrison buildings were repaired and an ordnance depot was established at the fort. Captain W. R. Shoemaker had charge until 1845, when the depot was discontinued and the goods moved to St. Louis. Thomas L. Drum, of Rock Island, was custodian from 1845 to 1853 ; Ordnance Sergeant Cummings for a short time, in 1853-54; J. B. Danforth, 1854-57, and H. Y. Slaymaker, 1857-63. In 1855, part of the fort was burned, and the last vestige of the historic structure at the foot of Rocky Island dis- appeared in 1863, when the first building of the National or Rock Island Arsenal commenced to arise. A reminder, if not a relic of old Fort Armstrong, has been placed on the arsenal grounds. In 1916, the one-hundredth anniversary of the building of the fort was observed by an imposing and enthusiastic celebration, in which not only the Tri-Cities joined, but numerous visitors from far away. Among the noted guests were Jesse Ka-ka-que, of Kansas, a great-grandson of Black Hawk, and Push-e-ton-e-que, chief of the Fox, together with about twenty- five other Indians from Tama, Iowa. As a part of this celebration one of the blockhouses was restored. It is a replica of those which were placed there more than a century ago, and which, with their six pounders, tended to im- plant a feeling of assurance, if not security, in the minds of the scattered settlers of the Rock River Valley before and during the period of the Black Hawk war. STUMBLING BLOCKS IN THE WAY OP THE ORIGINAL PLAN As early as 1825, the War Department withdrew the lands of Rocky Island from public sale, in order to set it aside for military purposes, but, for nearly forty years, although army officers were substantially unanimous in their recom- mendations to establish an armory, an arsenal and other military units of a great plant thereon, there were several critical times when it looked as if the people of the Mississippi Valley might be thwarted in their ambition. It al- ways happened, however, that some strong champion was raised up to hold the original plan in line, and among these supporters none was more stanch than Jefferson Davis. After the removal of the garrison in 1836, the squatters were the first stumbling blocks which the government sought to remove from the island. They boldly took possession of all the choicest tracts, hoping that in time their claims would be recognized and they would be able to acquire full ownership. The squatters cleared and cultivated some of the land, used much of the timber, and sold logs and wood so recklessly that most of the original growth was destroyed. Finally, David J. Baker, a United States attorney located at Kaskaskia, 111., notified J. R. Poinsett, secretary of war, of the conditions existing on the island and asked permission to eject the squatters. The matter was submitted to President Van Buren, who issued orders for their removal. The order, however, did not prove effectual either in removing the squatters, or in stopping their depredations. The various local and national measures which centered in the little island THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 705 which held the key to the military and industrial control of such an important stretch of the Mississippi Valley arc thus narrated in the official history of the Hock Island Arsenal, issued in 1922 with the approval of the War De- partment: "In 18:17. the Illinois Legislature gave permission, by special act, empowering David B. Sears and John W. Spencer to construct a water power dam across Rock Island Slough, connecting the island with the mainland at Moline. In 1842 the dam was completed, and in a short time a number of small manufacturing plants made their appearance at the head of the island, operating with the power generated there. In 1846, Mr. Sears built another dam connecting the mainland with Benham's Island, on the north and just below the head of the former. "In 1848, for some reason not clear at this date, the secretary of war w r rote to the secretary of the interior formally relinquishing the island for military purposes. In doing so, however, the former exceeded his powers, as court decisions and subsequent acts of the War Department indicated, and so a great many persons who claimed interests in the property were disappointed. "Most of the litigation with respect to the ownership of the premises re- sulted from the building of the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad, which crossed the island a quarter of a mile east of the present line, the company claiming a tract 300 feet in width by virtue of its charter from the State of Illinois. That was in 1854. The War Department resisted the intrusion and the matter was thrown into the courts, which eventually upheld the company, apparently more on the grounds of public need of transportation by rail than upon proof of technical rights submitted by the defendant. Subsequently the railroad was induced to remove its tracks to the extreme western end of the island, where they are now located. "In 1850, when General Zachary Taylor was president, he issued an order for the sale of the island. Advertisements were not printed in local news- papers, and it was charged that the move had been instigated by outside cap- italists who wished, for obvious reasons, to avoid publicity. Two weeks prior to the date of sale, however, the people of the community awoke to what was going on, and immediately such a protest arose that the War Department felt compelled to postpone the date. Word to this effect did not reach Rock Island until the afternoon of the day on which the sale was to have taken place and an officer was on the ground prepared to receive bids. Most active in opposing the sale were those who had settled or made improvements on the island, for they felt that their alleged rights were being placed in jeopardy. They banded together and even went so far as to post notices in the vicinity warning pros- pective purchasers that those appearing to submit bids would be in serious physical danger. The sale was finally called off. "Many bills were offered in Congress for the sale of all or part of the land, but most of them were defeated through the vigilance of local interests which, from the first, ardently upheld the effort to maintain the island as a site for an arsenal. In 1858 the War Department again was induced to con- sent to public sale, and bids were advertised for, and received, but never opened. About this time, Congress began to manifest a real interest in the utilization of the island for military purposes, and so in 1859, when the last bill ever 706 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY offered for sale of the premises came up, it was promptly voted down ; and that ended the controversy. "In the meantime, part of the island had been disposed of by act of Con- gress. Colonel George Davenport, the original settler in the community, was permitted to purchase at the prevailing price of $1.25 per acre the quarter section he had claimed and improved at the time the first army post was established, and D. B. Sears was given a similar privilege with respect to the fractional tract adjacent to his flour mill at the head of the island. The Daven- port interests subsequently were repurchased by the War Department for $40,700 and the Sears interests for $145,175. "An organized effort to get the greater part of the island by preemption was made in 1856, when one Thales Lindsley, said to have been a clerk in the Patent Office at Washington, appeared and located a party of squatters as 'dummies' upon unoccupied parts of the island. About the same time a number of Rock Island men conceived the same idea, namely, that of estab- lishing rights preliminary to purchase from the government. The result was that the population of the island was materially increased, there being two or more claimants for each of the more desirable portions. Some violence resulted from the clash of interests. Eventually, the Lindsley party was worsted. Lindsley, however, was not daunted. He remained on the ground and inter- ested a number of local men in a plan to get the island by grant from Con- gress as a site for a great state and national university. He drew up a prospectus for an institution of learning, offering more than one hundred courses of study, some of which never had been, and perhaps never will be, taught in any school. A bill to carry out the scheme was actually presented to Con- gress. When Lindsley appealed to Senator Stephen A. Douglas for aid, that statesman, evidently apprised of the many devices already employed with a similar purpose, is quoted as having exclaimed: 'For heaven's sake, sir, draw something thicker than a lace veil over your scheme!' "Apparently, that sealed the doom of the project, for it did not get much further. Lindsley made 6ne other attempt to improve his fortunes through an application to the Illinois Legislature for a water power grant involving rights in the south channel, already claimed by the Moline AVater Power Com- pany, but met with defeat. "Private claim to water power rights in the Rock Island slough never was seriously contested by the War Department. The original dam, built in 1842 by Sears and Spencer, was taken over a few years later by Pitts, Gilbert & Pitts, an eastern firm. Power was supplied to a number of factories from the first, but the project was not placed on a permanently paying basis until after 1865, when it passed into the hands of the newly formed Moline Water Power Company. This concern entered into an agreement by which it surrendered all rights to the government, obtaining in return a perpetual grant of the use of one-fourth of the power developed, with the option of use of surplus power above the requirements of the arsenal at a specified rental. The gov- ernment agreed to bear all expense of development and maintenance. This agreement stands to this day, and the Moline Water Power Company is still in existence, selling power to the Peoples' Power Company, which provides for distribution to the community." Vol. 1—45 708 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY ARSENAL COMMANDANTS PRIOR TO THE WORLD WAR By act of Congress, approved July 11, 1862, a national arsenal was located on Rock Island and $100,000 was appropriated for buildings. The original in- tention was to use the establishment for storage and repairs only. Major C. P. Kingsbury was assigned as the first commandant, his administration commencing in July, 1863. In that year was begun the first permanent build- ing of the arsenal, on the site of Fort Armstrong at the west end of the island. This massive limestone structure, with its clock tower facing in four direc- tions, was designed as a storehouse. For years, it has been used only in- cidentally and has been condemned, but public and historic sentiment has kept it standing, as one of the most interesting landmarks of the Rock Island Arsenal. THE MILITARY PRISON (1863-65) It was during the early portion of Major Kingsbury's administration that the Military Prison for captured confederates was established on the north side of the island near the river front and about midway between the east and west ends. The buildings were intended to accommodate 13,000, but the prison was never filled to its capacity. It took the form of a rectangle, the northeast corner being opposite the lower end of Papoose island. The four- teen rows of one-story buildings, each 100 feet in length, showed unpainted exteriors and unplastered interiors. A kitchen was located in one end of each building. Double-decked bunks were provided for sleeping purposes, each build- ing housing 120 men. The death rate was high, more than 1,900 men expiring of disease in the two years that the prison was maintained. A few prisoners escaped and several were killed in an attempt to do so. East of the main shop buildings and south of Main Avenue is the cemetery in which the confederate dead lie buried. At the head of each of the two thousand graves is a permanent marker, giving name, regiment and state of deceased. Farther east is the cemetery in which lie five hundred Union soldiers, many of whom served at the Rock Island post. The Union burial grounds are open to receive the remains of any American soldier, and it is the custom to hold Memorial Day services at this locality. Both burial grounds are sur- rounded by trees and guarded by old cannon, and the premises are carefully maintained. CONSTRUCTION BASIS LAID BY GENERALS RODMAN AND FLAGLER General Thomas J. Rodman succeeded Major Kingsbury in command in August, 1865, and remained in charge until his death June 7, 1871. His re- mains were buried on the island. Under General Rodman, who designed some of the best heavy guns used in the Civil war, those with which the monitors were armed being among them, comprehensive plans for the arsenal were elab- orated. In accordance with these, the institution was constructed and remained with only minor additions up to the commencement of the World war. Two rows of great shops, one on either side of the main avenue extending THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 709 cast and west and located on the highest ground the island afforded, con- stituted the main features of the ground plan. The shops on the south side of the avenue were designed for an arsenal and those on the north side, for an armory. There were five mammoth structures on each side of the main thoroughfare. The center shop on the south side was a combined foundry and machine shop and that on the north side, a rolling mill and forge shop, both being one story buildings with monitor roofs. The other eight buildings were two stories in height, with massive basements, the walls of Joliet limestone being from two to over three feet in thickness. All the shops were U-shaped, with parallel wings and large courts, the closed ends facing the avenue. These shop buildings, supplemented by three fire-proof storehouses, bar- racks, commanding officers' quarters, subaltern officers' quarters, general offices and fire engine house, all of durable construction and commodious character, provided facilities for housing the largest and most effective arsenal and armory in America. So much room was there, in fact, that only a part of the space afforded was utilized for manufacturing purposes and fitted out with machinery- until after the breaking of the World war. The basis of this splendid military plant was laid under the administrations of General Rodman and his successor, General D. W. Flagler. The latter assumed his duties as commandant at the death of General Rodman, in June, 1871, and continued in charge until May, 1886. Under General (then Captain) Flagler, most of the other buildings were constructed as originally planned. At the commencement of his administra- tion the question of adequate bridges connecting the island with the neigh- boring cities had become a pressing problem. The old wooden railroad bridge of 1856, the first to span the Mississippi, was, at best, but a makeshift affair, a menace to navigation, a plaything for drifting ice and windstorms, and a constant source of litigation between the bridge company and navigators. Prior to the recognition by the government of the desirability of the Island of Rock Island as the proper site for the location of an arsenal and an armory, a portion of the land had been sold by special act of Congress to the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad. This road had placed its tracks across the island and built upon its banks the abutments for its bridges. In order to buy the interests of private parties, a commission composed of General J. M. Scofield, Selden M. Church and James Barnes was appointed to appraise the lands thus involved, and they were finally purchased at a total cost of $221,000. In June. 1866, Congress approved an appropriation bill fixing the sum necessary to purchase these rights, and authorizing the relocation of the railroad bridge, at the same time providing for compensating the railroad company for chang- ing its route across the island. Included also in this act was provision for an appropriation sufficient to begin developing the water power on the south side of the island. "Work on the second bridge, a substantial iron structure spanning the Mis- sissippi and binding the city and island of Rock Island with Davenport, Iowa, was completed in February, 1872, and it was turned over to the "War Depart- ment and Captain Flagler four months later. Originally, the bridge was in- tended for use in the transaction of government business only, and not a thoroughfare between the Illinois and Iowa shores. This proposed policy met 710 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY with such severe local criticism that the commandant, who had just opened Fort Armstrong Avenue, threw the main bridge open to the public shortly after it was placed in his hands. This second bridge was 1,550 feet in length and cost about $1,000,000. It included five spans and draw, had a double deck and two tracks and footpaths on the sides below. Moline owned the original bridge connecting that city with the island. The government bought this in 1868 and replaced it with the present steel bridge in 1873. So that the first two years of Captain Flagler's long and notable service as commandant of the Rock Island Arsenal were marked by a more perfect union of the Tri-Cities, via the Island, than they had previously enjoyed. At the conclusion of his term in May, 1886, more than $4,000,000 had been ex- pended in the construction of buildings, the installation of a sewer system for the arsenal, the survey of miles of driveways on the island and the im- provement of the main avenues. Most of the trees, other than those of the natural forest, were planted during this period of uninterrupted activity. THE NEW BRIDGE BETWEEN ROCK ISLAND AND DAVENPORT Colonel T. Gr. Baylor served as commandant in 1886-89, Colonel J. M. Whitte- more, 1889-92, and Colonel A. R. Buffington, 1892-97. The only noticeable public improvement covering the period from 1886 to 1897, inclusive, was the building of the great steel bridge in 1894-95 which replaced the second structure of 1872. This was made necessary because of the wear and strain of the heavier traffic, especially the use of larger locomotives and railway cars, between Rock Island and Davenport. The engineer in charge of the work was Ralph Mod- jeska, son of the famous actress, and in the construction of the second and present bridge he used the old piers of the 1872 bridge. The trusses of the new bridge, which provides for street railway, as well as railroad, vehicle and foot traffic, are designed to meet the heavier demands of modern requirements. The bridge now in use is about the same length as the one it displaced, about 1,550 feet, and the railroad approach spans on the Iowa and Illinois sides would add 300 feet to the length of the bridge proper. The draw span, which touches the island shore, is 368 feet in length, with an opening on either side for river traffic of over 160 feet. At the time it was built it was one of the heaviest draw spans in existence, weighing 2,500,000 pounds. DEMANDS OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR Colonel S. E. Blunt, as commandant, served from March, 1897, to August, 1907, and therefore carried on his shoulders the responsibilities of assisting the ill-prepared American troops to conduct the war against the soldiers of Spain, seasoned in the hardships of tropical campaigns. To Colonel Blunt and the Rock Island Arsenal are due no small share of the creditable outcome of the Spanish-American war, notwithstanding the unpreparedness of the United States. The situation was well described in the official history of the Rock Island THE ROCK BIVEB VALLEY 711 Arsenal, as follows: "At the outbreak of the war with Spain, this country was far behind the times in much of its military equipment. The old 45-calibre single shot Springfield rifle, firing with black powder, but little better than the weapons used at the close of the Civil war, was the only small arm avail- able for use by many of the troops. About the only improvement made in the army uniform since the '60s consisted in the addition of the campaign hat and leggings. Our forces invaded the tropics clad in the regulation blue wool garments, ill-fitting and as uncomfortable as they were conspicuous to enemy marksmen. No canteens had been made since the Civil war, the surplus left after that conflict being repaired and recovered as needed. In many other ways, the equipment was far out of date. "The Spanish war not only stimulated manufacture, but brought about a marked change in type of most army goods, which led to a permanent expan- sion of the Rock Island Arsenal's facilities and shop forces. Though the war of 1898 did not last long, it brought realization of the advanced needs of the nation in the way of defences and was followed by an increase in the size of the standing army, which helped to insure continued activity at this arsenal on a scale greater than that which had prevailed up to that time. "Among the permanent improvements brought about at once were the mod- ernizing of the water power plant (the substitution of electricity for cable transmission of power) and the taking of steps for the manufacture of small arms. During the Spanish war, rifles w r ere cleaned, repaired and issued but none were made here." Under the stimulus of the war, the employees of the Rock Island Arsenal quickly increased from about 300 to 3,000. Large quantities of raw material were purchased for the manufacture of blanket bags and straps, canteens, gun slings, haversacks and straps, meat cans and tin cups, and thousands of the finished articles were purchased from contractors. The most important item, in the nature of equipment, was the manufacture of canteens, 235,500 of whi h were turned out of the arsenal from April to August, 1898. During the same period, 208,000 meat cans were manufactured and 231,000 tin cups. In the four months specified, there were either made at the arsenal wholly or in part, or purchased from contractors, many breech-loading rifles and other field guns, carriages, limbers and caissons, a large quantity of artillery harness and saddles, and hundreds of thousands of miscellaneous articles. During the Spanish- American war, the arsenal was the largest depot of issue in the country. In 1899, Congress voted money for the manufacture of army rifles, and three of the shop buildings in armory row were set aside for that purpose. Eventually, the armory attained a capacity of 250 rifles daily, but after the immediate needs of the army were met the output was cut down to about half that amount. For some years before the World war little was done at the small arms plant, but it sprang into new life with the entrance of the coun- try into the great struggle, the number of employees being brought up to 3,000 in this department alone. WORLD WAR EXPANSION The vast additions to shops and storehouses, with the many other improve- ments brought about by the late war. were made under Colonel George W. 712 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Burr, Colonel L. T. Hillman and Colonel Harry B. Jordan. Lieutenant Colonel F. E. Hobbs succeeded Colonel Blunt, in August, 1907, and served until April 1911. A description of the new structures erected as a result of the unprecedented demands of the World war upon the resources of the United States would far transcend the limits of this paper. An authoritative condensed statement of this marvelous expansion is thus given: "Rock Island Arsenal was literally transformed by construction projects undertaken immediately prior to, dur- ing and just following the period in which this country was involved in the "World war. One familiar with the premises before that conflict would scarcely recognize them after the work was completed. All construction was done under high pressure, but most of it was of a permanent character and detracts nothing from the impression of durability, as well as of architectural beauty and prac- tical utility, which the institution has always given the visitor. "Several months before this country actually declared war, Congress, yield- ing to the urgent recommendations of the War Department, provided for some minor extensions of the arsenal plant. This work was only fairly started when the country entered the struggle, and from that time until after the close of hostilities the arsenal grounds were literally alive with construction forces of every description and new structures sprang up as if by magic. Work was done under contract, some on a lump sum and some on a cost plus basis, with the exception of a number of storehouses built by the arsenal organiza- tion after the close of hostilities and needed to shelter the immense quantity of war material returning from the armies in France and from the training camps in this country. "Much additional shop room was needed and, all told, the additions to the plant amounted to more than 1,500,000 feet of floor space, costing more than $7,000,000. Chief among the new structures built for manufacturing purposes were the artillery vehicle plant and the artillery ammunition as- sembling plant. The former consists of a main erection shop, 120 by 605 feet, with three wings, each 80 by 200 feet, and all four stories high. The latter is 360 by 400 feet, in three sections, one three stories, one two and the other, one story in height. The ammunition assembling plant cost $2,093,000, and the artillery vehicle plant $2,225,000. Both are of reinforced concrete con- struction. "As output increased, storage space, both for raw material and completed goods, became totally inadequate, and steps were taken at once to supply the deficiency. All told, nearly 1,500,000 feet of additional floor space were pro- vided at a cost of more than $3,000,000. Chief among these projects were thirty ammunition storehouses, each 50 by 200 feet, costing together $490,000; eight vehicle storage buildings aggregating 452,500 feet of space and costing $865,000, and what is designated as Storage Building W-l, which is 140 by 540 feet, six stories high and cost $1,560,000. "Of course, much miscellaneous construction was necessary. A central steam heating plant was built at a cost of $610,000. The hydro-electric plant was enlarged and modernized at a cost of $748,000. Additional barracks, offices, a cafeteria, hospital and other buildings, mostly of a temporary character, were provided." THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 713 For some time prior to the outbreak of the "World war in 1914, the em- ployees at Rock Island Arsenal totaled approximately 1,800 men and 175 women, the latter all office workers, typists and stenographers. From that time until the spring of 1916 there was little tendency to increase the number of workers, but the disturbances on the Mexican border started increased activities at the arsenal, and by July, 1916, there had been added to the force about 100 men and 25 women, the latter still being confined to clerical positions. From that time until the United States entered the war, employees were added at the rate of about 200 per month, and on April 6, 1917, there were employed at the arsenal 3,600 men and 300 women office workers. High speed and maximum production then became the watchword and em- ployees were added at a rate of nearly 300 monthly. On December 31, 1917, the total was 6,100 men and 375 women; on May 31, 1918, 8,926 men and 450 women office workers. As a new departure, about 100 women shop workers had also been employed. The first of these were taken on May 20, 1918, and when the armistice was signed somewhere near 1,500 women were employed in the shops, and more than 13,300 men. In striking contrast to the production of the arsenal during the short period of the Spanish-American war is its output covering the much longer period of the World war. The harness manufacturing department of the Rock Island plant was the greatest and most completely equipped in the world, and up to August 1, 1918, all the artillery harness supplied to the United States forces were manufactured or assembled here. These numbered more than 98,000 sets. With the coming of motorized artillery and transport, the use of harness and saddles has come to play a relatively unimportant part in army equip- ment, and since 1920 the department has been discontinued at the Rock Island Arsenal and transferred to the depot at Jeffersonville, Ind. During the World war, the manufacture of rifles was one of the principal industries at the arsenal, and 3,500 men and women were employed in the small arms plant alone. The entire output as completed weapons or repair parts approximated more than 113,000 rifles, model of 1903. In round numbers, 790,000 complete sets of personal equipment for the soldier were produced during the period of hostilities. The largest single item included 1,500,000 bacon cans. Knives, canteen covers, haversacks and pack carriers were minor items in this equipment. The production of the arsenal was large both in heavy and light ordnance stores — carriages, caissons, limbers, wagons and wheels. Nearly 10,000 artillery wheels were manufactured. There were also manufactured and assembled 13,000 arm repair chests, and 167,000 howitzer shells were loaded. Another most striking contrast is a comparison of the expenditures at Rock Island Arsenal during the period from August, 1914, to April, 1917, when the United States was out of the war with the expenditures incurred during the much shorter period of American participation in it. While the country was a non-participant, the total expenditures at Rook Island Arsenal amounted to $11,759,000, of which purchases totaled $7,115,000 and labor, $4,644,000. The official records show that from the day the United States entered the World war, April 7, 1917, until the armistice was signed, November 11, 1918, the government authorized the expenditure at Rock Island Arsenal of $108,- 714 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 955,974.07. Of this amount, due to the cessation of hostilities, $19,612,133.48 was revoked, leaving an actual expenditure of $89,343,840.59. In the total expended during this period, $66,526,540.31 was devoted to the manufacture of war materials and purchases for this purpose; $17,120,515.51 to labor; $17,- 341,487.69 to new buildings, alterations and machinery; $3,915,812.59 to tem- porary buildings and $1,560,000 to the Savanna, 111., proving ground. THE SAVANNA PROVING GROUND At the commencement of the war, it was contemplated that an immense tract of land, more than 13,000 acres, on the banks of the Mississippi sixty miles above Rock Island, should be set aside for proof -firing gun carriages manufactured at the arsenal; but, with the signing of the armistice, immediate use for the carriages having ceased, the Savanna project was used as a storage depot for the vast quantities of ordnance stores manufactured at the arsenal during the war. In June, 1917, two months after the country entered the war, Congress appropriated $1,500,000 for the purchase of the Savanna Prov- ing Ground. Out of the total tract of more than 13,000 acres, costing over $890,000 only 320 acres were purchased direct by the government, and con- demnation proceedings were necessary in the acquirement of ten additional acres. The balance of the congressional appropriation, amounting approx- imately to $600,000, was expended in constructing necessary quarters, bar- racks, firing points, power house, storehouses, roads and sewage system. It will be realized to what extent the Savanna site was used for a storage depot from the statement that at the beginning of the fiscal year 1920 artillery material was being received at the rate of forty carloads a day. No covered storage was available, and the material was packed in the open, there being something like fifteen acres of this on hand, July 1, 1920. To care for the material it was necessary to construct forty storehouses to house artillery and tractors. The Savanna Ordnance Reserve Depot at the present time is the field stor- age point for small arms ammunition for the 5th, 6th and 7th Corp Areas. WAR SUBSCRIPTIONS Aside from the actual work in the shops for the production of war mate- rial, employees of Rock Island Arsenal hung up a record for service that has not been surpassed by any manufacturing plant in the country in proportion to size. After the declaration of war, they subscribed $4,000,000 to the various war charities and to the Liberty bond issues. The investment of the workers in the war bonds totaled more than $3,000,000. The sale of war stamps and thrift stamps, of which no record has been kept, brings the total well over the $4,000,000 mark. MILITARY PERSONNEL At the beginning of hostilities in 1917, the Rock Island post had ten officers, with an ordnance detachment of 89 enlisted men and a few in the medical THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 715 department and quartermaster's corps. At the signing of the armistice, there were 76 ordnance officers and 169 enlisted men, as well as about 100 enlisted men in the medical and quartermaster's departments, with their quota of offi- cers. Colonel Leroy T. Ilillnian. ordnance department, had been in command .since March, 1918, and continued as military head of the arsenal and post until his death in service on December 29th, the month following the cessa- tion of hostilities. CIVILIAN AND MILITARY GUARD One of the most striking features at Rock Island Arsenal during the period of the war was the efficient manner of guarding the government property by means of both civil and military organizations. Immediately after war was declared, a high wire enclosure was built around the shops, the main store- houses and the oil houses, and both civilian and military guards were increased at the main gates and in and around the shops. At various times during the war period, detachments from the Sixth and Tenth Illinois Infantry regiments and the United States Guards were ordered to the arsenal to guard govern- ment property outside the enclosure. Thirty-two posts were established where sentries were on duty night and day. These posts were designed to protect the pump house, railroad bridges, magazines, power dam and other places of importance. The fire department at the arsenal was thoroughly reorganized and expanded and all its equipment modernized. The fighting apparatus was motorized, a high pressure water system built and an electric alarm system installed. Although precautions w r ere taken to meet dangers from fire as well as from violence, fortunately, neither the military nor civil protectors were called upon to meet any serious crisis. BRIGADIER GENERAL GEORGE W. BURR When General Burr was assigned to the command of Rock Island Arsenal he was a lieutenant colonel of ordnance. That was in July, 1911, and as he served in that capacity until February, 1918, he was at the head of its affairs during about half of the World war period. While in command of the Rock Island post he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and at the conclusion of his service there was transferred to Washington. He was then assigned as chief ordnance officer on the staff of Major General Biddle in England to purchase heavy artillery and munitions from the British government. In Au- gust, 1918, he was appointed brigadier general in the National army and as- signed as chief of the engineering division of the ordnance department. In December, 1918, he was appointed assistant director of purchase, storage and traffic, and in March, 1919, was promoted temporarily to the grade of major general. He held at the time of his demise March 4, 1923, the rank of brigadier general and was then serving as chief of the field service in the office of the chief of ordnance. COLONEL HARRY B. JORDAN Colonel Harry B. Jordan, who, at the death of Colonel Ilillman, succeeded to the command of Rock Island Arsenal in January, 1919, had enjoyed years 716 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY of service both in the cavalry and artillery of the regular army. In 1901 he graduated from West Point Military Academy as second lieutenant of cav- alry, and in the following eleven years served either in the artillery or cavalry. In 1908, he was assigned to Rock Island Arsenal as captain of ordnance. Three years later, he was again detailed to the cavalry, but in 1913 returned to the ordnance department and has been in that branch of the service ever since. In 1915, he was promoted to the rank of major, and shortly after the United States entered the war was made a lieutenant colonel. When the expedi- tionary forces of the United States went abroad, Colonel Jordan was sent to France, where he was placed in charge of the construction of arsenals. He returned to the United States with the rank of colonel, was placed in charge of the artillery section in the office of the chief of ordnance, and served as commandant of the Rock Island Arsenal from January, 1919, to June, 1921. He was then relieved of his command and assigned to duty as chief ordnance officer, American Forces in Germany, stationed at Coblenz. He is now stationed in Washington, D. C, in the office of the Assistant Secretary of War. COLONEL D. M. KING Colonel D. M. King, the successor of Colonel Jordan as commandant of Rock Island Arsenal and still in command, graduated from West Point in 1893 and was stationed at Washington during the following three years. He was instructor at the United States Military Academy from 1896 until 1899, and in 1898 was commissioned first lieutenant, ordnance department. Upon the entrance of the United States into the World war, he was on the staff of Colonel Burr at the Rock Island Arsenal, and was designated by the chief of ordnance to design, equip, construct and obtain the necessary personnel for the maintenance of all ordnance material in France. This was a $20,000,000 project, and required approximately 275 officers and 20,000 skilled enlisted men for the operation of the shops and repair facilities. The main shops were located at Mehun, France, and about 9,000 people were employed there at the date of the armistice. Some twenty smaller plants were established, main- tained and operated at artillery training camps and elsewhere in France. For his efficiency in the superintendency of this important work overseas, Colonel King received the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Honor was conferred upon him by the French Government. POST-WAR ACTIVITIES AND PRESENT STATUS The notable post-war activities brought about by the adjustment of the vastly expanded facilities of the arsenal to the moderate demands of peace were chiefly directed by the commandants, Colonel Harry B. Jordan and Colonel D. M. King. The buildings and machinery adapted to the manufacture of innumerable articles were ready for use on a comparatively modest scale and in the summer of 1919 Congress and the War Department commenced to bring the great plant into contracted industrial operation. An Orders Branch of the service was established and orders were received for the manufacture of articles at the arsenal which would not require additional machinery in their (Thronsh the courtesy of the Rock Island Arsenal) NEW AND OLD TYPES OF BUILDINGS AT ROCK ISLAND ABSENAL 718 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY production and which could be produced cheaper than they could be procured through private sources. The demand came chiefly from the various govern- ment departments, notably the ordnance. The diversified nature of the work required will be realized when it is stated that the orders covered torpedo parts and forgings, weirs for Ohio River dams, emergency gates, bombs and racks for the air service, and mail bags for the post office. The most important single order received, however, and the largest and most involved in the his- tory of the arsenal, was the construction of one hundred huge fighting tanks, weighing about forty tons each when fully equipped and manned. Practically, all the components of the tank were shipped to the arsenal and assembled there. The principal parts consisted of heavy armor plate, and angle iron and steel girders, with such equipment as tools, Hotchkiss guns, camouflage nets, water cans, bird cages, food cans, telescopes, periscopes, festoon lamps, semaphores and various other sundries purchased from the British govern- ment. The balance of the required material was manufactured by various outside contractors in the United States, and included Liberty motors, trans- missions, compound clutches, petrol tanks, radiators, electrical equipment and front control units. The construction on the first of these tanks was started July 1, 1919, and the last tank was ready for road test on June 5, 1920, mak- ing a total of 286 days to complete the 100 tanks. During the period of the war only such repairs to the roads had been made, and labor in the upkeep of the grounds expended, as were found to be abso- lutely necessary. The activities carried on in connection with the arsenal construction projects had left the grounds adjacent to many of the new build- ings in an unsightly condition. The vast quantities of war material turned in from the field and from abandoned plants had, because of lack of covered storage space, to be piled in the open in scattered areas about the arsenal. The clearing of these sites; the disposing of the serviceable and unservice- able material ; the construction of new roads and drives ; the repairing and resurfacing of many of the permanent roads (the most notable of which was Main Avenue from the main gate to West Avenue) ; the removal of the flag- staff, formerly occupying the center of Main Avenue at its juncture with West Avenue, to its present location in front of the administration building, but out of the line of traffic; the replacing by monolithic walks of many of the earlier flagstone walks, which had become broken and sunken; the planting of trees and shrubs; the laying out of a park for the recreation of arsenal employees; the extension of the exterior lighting of roads and buildings, in- cluding the placing of lights on the clock tower of the old arsenal building at the lower extremity of the island, and many other improvements have since been completed to restore the island to its former beauty. WATER POWER, THE DECISIVE FACTOR The unprecedented demand for motive power caused by the requirements of the World war upon the facilities of the arsenal plant brought a keen realization of the wonderful advantages possessed by Rock Island and its sur- roundings as a military center capable of immeasurable expansion. Since 1854, when Jefferson Davis, as secretary of war, called emphatic attention to THE ROCK RIVER VALL E Y 719 the available water power of the Locality, thai feature had been steadily pro- truding itself as the decisive factor In the decision and the development. More than twenty years before the government came to a full realization of the military site which had been fashioned by nature to its hands, private wisdom and enterprise had harnessed the rapids to industrial uses. It was not until two years alter the close of the Civil war that the government made an ar- rangement with the Moline Water Power Company by which it granted to that corporation the free use of one-fourth of the water power developed on the premises and the privilege of renting all the surplus power above the needs of the arsenal. Thereupon, the War Department commenced its improvements. First, it built dams parallel to the Illinois shore. In 1895, the government. engineers closed up the openings in the first, or upper dam, and erected a new- one at the west of the first structure. Other improvements followed. The demands of the Spanish-American war. especially the increased facilities re- quired for the manufacture of small arms, made it necessary to supplement the water power with steam power. As the distance from source of power at the dam to its place of application in the shops was about two thousand feet, transmission of power was one of the earlier problems of the arsenals. Compressed air, a continuous shaft and a wire cable were all used, but im- mediately after the Spanish-American war the cable transmission line was re- placed by electricity. The sundry civil appropriation act, approved July 1, 1916, contained a provision setting aside $500,000 "toward providing facilities for manufactur- ing field artillery ammunition at a total cost not exceeding $1,250,000." The estimate forming the basis for this appropriation included the project for in- creasing the water power at Rock Island Arsenal. It was found that the most economical and satisfactory method of doing so was to construct a new con- crete dam in the rear of and at an angle with the existing dam, and to in- stall therein eight large generator units and two exciter units of modern type, giving, with an eleven foot operating head, approximately 3,760 horsepower. This was done, the improvement being ready for use June 1, 1919. In the development and maintenance of the arsenal water power since 1866, Congress has appropriated approximately $2,000,000, and the improvement of the rapids for purposes of navigation, covering the fourteen miles from Le- Claire to Rock Island, has been fairly continuous since 1867. Practically all the improvements have been made by use of government-owned equipment operated by day labor and directed by War Department engineers. The power pool at Moline was originally created by building a rock dam about half a mile up the river, parallel with the shore, from Benham's island, north of and just below the head of Rock Island. This was extended three miles farther upstream in 1898. Another dam connected the two islands named. These dams virtually cut off the City of Moline from the benefits of river trans- portation, since boats entering the pool were forced to round the head of the longitudinal dam. The river and harbor act of 1905 remedied this situation by appropriating money to build a lock and dam at the foot of Benham's island. The improvement was completed in 1907 at a cost of $386,000, and later the longitudinal dam was reconstructed. With the completion of this work, practically all river traffic was diverted through the pool and lock, thus 720 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY avoiding the worst part of the rapids. In 1914, work was begun on what has become known as the LeClaire canal, designed to connect the head of the rapids with Hampton pool, three miles below T , and the work is still unfinished. Thus, for nearly sixty years, the development of the water power and the manipulation of the rapids as menaces to navigation have gone hand in hand, the former being largely determined by the exigencies of war which have affected the demands upon arsenal production. Since 1863, when work commenced on the first arsenal building, more than $19,926,000 have been expended on the construction, repair and preservation of buildings, roads, sewers, etc. ; $1,323,868, on bridges ; $2,840,558 on water power improvements, dikes and dams; $8,501,227 on machinery and shop fix- tures. Total, $32,591,920. The total valuation placed on the arsenal plant, with all its contents is $347,343,147. PEN PICTURE OF PRESENT-DAY ARSENAL With its activities so circumscribed in comparison with those which pre- vailed in the World war period, the Rock Island Arsenal is an impressive object lesson illustrating the return of a great industry to the ways of peace. Many of the great shops of the war period are abandoned, but unsightly moun- tains of material to be used in the slaughter of humankind have disappeared, and the old-time beauties of the island have returned. Walks and roads have been laid out in all directions, and golf and tennis courses are woven into long and wide stretches of green. Autos and other vehicles glide everywhere over substantial and well-kept avenues and highways. In the midst of these charms of nature directed by the industry and art of man, are historic, memorials identified with the development and notable record of the region and the annals of the Rocky Island. The site of old Fort Armstrong, with a replica of one of its blockhouses, as well as the clock-tower building standing for the first permanent structure of the arsenal, are all located at the western or lower end of the island. In this locality are also the remains of the island pier of the first bridge to span the Mississippi, in 1856. Farther north is the Davenport house. To the east and along the north- ern shore of the island are the confederate and union cemeteries and the grave of General Rodman. The dams, buildings and apparatus through which the power is generated that makes vital with ponderous life the vast structural shells of the arsenal are stretched along the southern shores of the island and mainland, as well as across to the Illinois shore. The most interesting feature of the arsenal to the general visitor, not in- clined to things mechanical or engineering, and only superficially posted on the history of the locality, is the military, or the war museum. It occupies a large area on the first floor of Shop A, and prior to the World war was relatively small. Since that period, the collection has so expanded that there are few larger or more complete museums of the kind in the country. One can trace the development of the art of war and its implements, from the spear, bow and arrow of the North American Indian, the machete of the Cuban and the bolo of the Filipino, to the rifle and machine gun of the warriors of modern Europe and the United States. The old brass and swivel guns that could be (ThrouKh the courtesy of the Rock Island Arsenal) GRAVE OF GENERAL THOMAS J. RODMAN Inventor of large smooth-bore guns and method of hollow-easting (Through the courtesy of the Hock Island Arsenal) ARSENAL EMPLOYES CELEBRATING ARMISTICE DAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1918 722 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY carried around by hand stand in the shadow of mortars, howitzers and huge naval monsters. Old flintlocks lay side by side with deadly automatic rifles and sawed-off shotguns. In the museum is afforded the opportunity to com- pare not only the small arms of this country with those of France, Germany and Great Britain, but as well, the artillery of the modern nations. The machine gun exhibit is one of much interest. Anti-aircraft guns, armor, gas masks, bombs used by aircraft, torpedoes, and most of the devices employed in trench warfare are also on view. Included in the artillery is a duplicate of the French gun which fired the first shot at the advancing Germans, and there are several guns in camouflage. Of leather goods and personal equipment sets, the variety is great, as these were the great specialties among the manufactures of the arsenal. It is through the military museum that the visitor may make a fitting exit from the interesting and instructive establishments included under the general title, Rock Island Arsenal. NEWSPAPERS AND BANKS Rock Island has always published newspapers to boost it along — in fact, the first newspapers published in the Rock River Valley were hers. In 1839, Henry C. McGrew, a young Irish printer from Paoli, Ind., unfurled his Banner from a little office near the ferry landing, but as its editor could be nothing but a democrat in a strong whig community his paper did not survive beyond the fall of 1841. The democrats of the Rock Island region were without a newspaper from 1847 until 1851, but in the fall of the latter year came Fred S. Nichols and John W. Dunham from the St. Louis Intelligencer and established the Re- publican (democratic). J. B. Danforth, Jr., afterward bought a half interest in the establishment, and on July 13, 1854, issued a daily — the first in the Rock River Valley. Soon afterward, its name was changed to the Argus. In 1862, J. A. Huck moved his paper from Moline to Rock Island and commenced the publication of the Weekly and Daily Union. The Argus and the Union were afterward consolidated into one of the leading publications in the lower Rock River Valley. The funds for the operation of the industries and business of Rock Island, as well as for its other financial transactions, are supplied by five substantial banks. The State Bank was founded in 1852, the Peoples National in 1874, the Rock Island Savings in 1890, the Central Trust and Savings, 1899 ; the Amer- ican Trust and Savings, 1912, and the First Trust and Savings, 1920. They are capitalized at nearly $1,200,000, and their deposits average more than $16,000,000. THE CITY OF MOLINE The local writer has given the following graphic description of the location of Moline: "The City of Moline is situated on the Illinois shore of the Mis- sissippi River, the Father of Waters, 1,570 miles from its mouth, and opposite THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 723 tin 1 upper part of the government island known as the Island of Bock Island. between which and Moline flows a part of the .Mississippi. This branch lias 1 n harnessed for water power and is called the Sylvan Waters, or the Pool. This pool holds the water for the power plants of Moline and the Island of Rock Island. ■".Moline is beautifully located and has its practical side as well. Factories line the shore of the Sylvan Waters. Some of thein, especially the plow works, are among the largesl of their kind in the world. The business section of the city is situated on a plain which rises gradually toward the south until it reaches picturesque blurt's on whose brow are many fine residences that bear testimony to the refinement, taste and wealth of the people. From these bluffs a magnificent view is presented, for the Mississippi can be seen for many miles both ways, and the landscape includes the cities of Rock Island, 111., and Davenport, la., as well as the Island of Rock Island with its stone work shops erected by the government for the manufacture of accoutrements for the army. Across the river and opposite to Moline, the enormous shops of Bettendorf, la., are seen, and the beautiful hillsides of the Iowa shore of the Mississippi River, with their fields, groves, orchards and farm houses, add to the attrac- tiveness of the scene. Up the river is the historical Campbell's Island and opposite is the Illinois Western Hospital for the Insane. "On the top of the Moline bluffs is a plateau that stretches south towards Rock River. This is about one and a half miles in width, carefully platted and well built up with handsome residences which are types of the homes of pros- perous people. It may be said that Moline has at its front door the mighty Mississippi, and at its back, beautiful Rock River." THE PLOW CITY With this general picture of Moline in mind, it is evident that Moline still reverts to her original type of the Plow City. Although the solid blocks of river front covered by the Deere, Moline Plow and Oliver Chilled Plow works are unsightly, these industries remain at the bottom of her prosperity and advancement, and her 30,000 people depend primarily upon them for their comfortable existence. When John Deere moved his tiny plow works from Grand Detour to Moline in 1844, there was little besides the water power to recommend it to him, but that had aroused the admiration of engineers and public and business men for years. Fifteen years before, Joel Wells and his sons, Levi and Hunting- ton, came to the site of Moline, but it was not until 1841 that it was laid out as Rock Island Mills by John W. Spencer, David B. Sears, Spencer H. White and George W. Lynde. The plat of the town was never recorded, and in 1843 David B. Sears, Spencer H. White, Joel and Huntington Wells, Charles Atkinson and Xathan W. Bass laid out a town on section 32, township 18 north, range 1 west. The surveyor wrote on one of the two plats which were prepared for record the name Hesperia and on the other. Moline. Tn line with the old-time idea that at the water power was to be founded an indus- trial town, Charles Atkinson urged that it be called Moline, or, as the sur- Vol. 1—46 724 THE EOCK RIVER VALLEY veyor explained, the equivalent of Mill Town. The plat labeled Moline was therefore filed before a justice of the peace, Nathaniel Belcher, and approved June 6, 1843, by the commissioners, John R. Taylor, Adolphus Dunlap and George S. Moore, and early the following year John Deere stamped the town with its first permanent and important industry. To describe the expansion of John Deere 's plow works from the establish- ment of the 1844 plant until the industry obtained its present gigantic pro- portions, would require a book in itself. It is remarkable, also, that during this long period of growth but three presidents have been at the head of affairs. The founder continued to direct them until his death in 1886 ; the son, Charles H. Deere, succeeded his father as president at that time, and at the time of his own death, October 29, 1907, "William Butterworth, a lawyer, who had managed its legal affairs since 1892, assumed the presidency. It is worthy of note that two of the leading officials connected with the Moline Plow Company were very prominent in the activities of the World war. George N. Peck, its president, had been a leading factor in the develop- ment of the Deere interests for more than a quarter of a century before he became president and general manager of the Moline Plow Company in 1919. He was vice-president of Deere & Company in 1911-19 and during the last two years of that service was a member of the War Industries Board and chairman of the Industrial Board, of the Department of Commerce, Wash- ington. Mr. Peck was decorated for his war services, and upon his return to his home city was elected president and general manager of the Moline Plow Company. The general counsel and assistant general manager of the Moline Plow Company, General Hugh S. Johnson, is a West Point man, and had attained the rank of captain in the regular service and during the World war was several times promoted until he resigned as brigadier general. Since 1919 he has held the position mentioned with the Moline Plow Company. MOLINE AS A CORPORATION As early as 1843 — the year before the coming of John Deere — Moline was organized as a town, and in 1848 was incorporated as such under the State laws. In 1855, its powers were extended, and in July, 1872, a petition was presented to the Town Board asking that the question as to the adoption of a city government be submitted to popular decision. In August the people voted almost unanimously for a municipal government and on the 29th of that month elected the following: Mayor, Daniel L. Wheel ockj city clerk, Orrin K. Ferguson; city attorney, John T. Browning; aldermen, George W. Vinton, Luke E. Hemenway, Herman S. Keater, Marvel H. White, and Charles F. Hemenway. John Deere was a candidate for mayor at this election, and the following year was chosen to the position. On January 30, 1911, Moline voted to adopt the commission form of govern- ment, and on April 4th following, held its first election, at which Martin Carlson was chosen mayor, and Clark G. Anderson, Charles V. Johnson, Louis 0. Jahns and Ezra L. Eastman, commissioners. THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 725 mm: city of the present Public education found a foothold in Moline almost with the platting of the old town. What was long known as the Old Brick Schoolhouse was built on the site of llif City Hall in 1843. Its grounds were donated by the proprietors of the town site, and the first teacher, Joseph Jackman, was an old friend and schoolmate of Charles Atkinson. The first suggestion of graded schools came tii in Mr. Jackman, but his ideas were then considered too advanced. The old schoolhouse was all that the boys and girls of Moline required until 1855; then other accommodations commenced to be provided for them. The first high school class did not graduate until 1876. Music was added to the curriculum of the public schools in 1882, and manual training in 1886. In 1908, a new building was erected devoted exclusively to the manual arts, which feature has since been a prominent one of the local system of public education. Including the Manual Arts and High schools, and the Central Grammar, Moline has nineteen buildings devoted to the advancement of free education. It also has several large parochial schools conducted by the Catholics, Lutherans and Hebrews, and one business college. The Moline Public Library, which has always closely cooperated with the schools to be in active work as a public educator, was first opened on January 6, 1873, and reestablished in 1904 by cooperation between Andrew Carnegie and the city of Moline. MOLINE NEWSPAPERS For more than seventy years, the newspapers of Moline have labored earnestly for the good of the community, according to the best of their lights. The Mo- line Dispatch of the present day had its origin in the Review, established in November, 1870. It labored along under changing management until B. F. Tillinghast obtained possession of it in May, 1872. In July, 1878, it was con- solidated with the Dispatch, which had been established in July of that year as a daily. The Keview -Dispatch was the weekly edition of the Dispatch until 1912, when it was discontinued. In July, 1885, Dean Brothers, proprietors of the Dispatch, sold the newspaper to P. S. McGlynn and John K. Groom. Mr. Groom sold his interests to W. F. Eastman, who, at his death in 1909, had been serving for three years as postmaster of Moline. Mr. Eastman's interest in the Dispatch was purchased from the estate in 1912 by John Sundine, who became business manager of the Moline Dispatch Publishing Company. Of late years Mr. Mc- Glynn has been somewhat retired from the business and editorial management of the Dispatch, but his connection of forty years with its progress has enrolled him among the most prominent veterans of the profession in the Rock River Valley. The protection of property was one of the most important considerations which came before the citizens of Moline. Its first volunteer fire department was formed in July, 1856; the first steam engine was bought by the city in 1872; the original water works were built in 1882, and in 1896 the fire department was placed on a paid basis. These are the main steps which have led to a depart- ment, well organized and equipped to meet the demand of owners of valuable industrial property, business houses and handsome residences. Moline had its 726 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY village organization of police, but the first department to be established along municipal lines was that formed in 1877, with L. E. Fish as chief of police. After considering what protection to life and property Moline has provided for her people, one instinctively turns to the public hospital, which was opened in August, 1898, and maintained by popular taxation. It is a benefaction which cannot be overestimated, founded as it was under an ordinance of the City Council, wherein it is provided that it shall be "a nonsectarian public hospital for the use and benefit of the City of Moline, or any person falling sick, or injured, or maimed within its limits ; and that all money collected shall be under the control of the hospital board and placed to the credit of the hospital fund." The nine parks and squares which have been donated to the people of Mo- line, since 1900, have well served as recreation centers and promoters of public hygiene. In the year named the small tract in front of the old city hall was Moline 's only municipal park. In 1900, Sylvan Park was established along the river front between Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets. In the western part of the city, G. A. Stevens donated a large tract as a memorial to his father, in 1900, and the city afterward purchased eighteen adjoining acres, as the com- mencement of Stevens Park. In 1911 and 1912, John T. Browning and the late Mrs. C. H. Deere and her daughter, Mrs. William Butterworth, donated the lands which have been molded into Browning Park, between Fifteenth Street and Twenty-third Avenue, and the Deere Park, between Seventh Street and Six- teenth Avenue. Prospect Park, is a wooded tract in South Moline, which was deeded to the city in 1911 by the Tri-City Railway Company, and has been im- proved so that it is a popular picnic resort. In East Moline, is Riverside Park of fifty-seven acres. Then there is Observatory Park, at the head of Fourteenth Street, a small tract of land, but well named because of the splendid view of the Mississippi River to be obtained from this point. banks Moline 's six banks have a combined capital of $1,375,000; surplus of $1,254,- 000, and deposits of $19,757,000. The dates of their founding are as follows: Peoples Saving Bank and Trust Company, 1857 ; State Savings Bank and Trust Company, and Trust and Savings Bank, 1869 ; Mechanics and Merchants Sav- ings Bank, 1910; Commercial Savings, 1912; Fifth Avenue Trust and Savings, 1920. CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES An account of the establishment of the first churches in Moline has already been given, but although it is impossible to give separate sketches of the thirty religious bodies within the city limits, it can be confidently asserted that they all meet special demands. There are six Lutheran churches, four Methodist, four Congregationalist, three Roman Catholic, three Baptist and two Episcopalian. The Young Men's Christian Association of Moline was started in 1884 on the second floor of the Deere building, Third Avenue and Seventeenth Street. The original association suspended for several years before 1901, but was revived in the following year, and by September, 1911, had completed one of the finest buildings of the kind in the Northwest outside of Chicago. THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 727 There is not a secret or benevolent society of any standing which is not repre- sented in Moline, and its trade and labor organizations are many and closely bound to like bodies in Hock Island and Davenport. Of the social and patriotic movements much good may be said, but a mere mention of some of them tells the story of wide scope and varied activities. The American Red Cross, the D. A. R., the Fortnightly Club, Kiwanis, Rotary, Women's Club, and Tri-City Musical Society are a few representative organizations in Moline, taken almost at random. EAST MOLINE A manufacturing city of nearly 9,000 people, East Moline was organized as ;i town in December, 1902, and on January 17, 1903, its first trustees were elected. The present city form of government was adopted in 1907. It has a municipally- owned system of water works, and an excellent system of drainage and storm sewers, a paid fire department, and many miles of brick-paved streets. East Moline is seven miles east of Rock Island and four miles from Moline, and many of the large industrial concerns with headquarters in these cities have established branches at East Moline. Among other lines which are making the little city prosperous are those concerned in the manufacture of malleable iron, gasoline engines, autos, scales and farm machinery. MINOR POINTS Outside of Rock Island and the two Molines, there are a number of villages of considerable importance in the county. Milan, less than a thousand people, is the western terminus of the Hennepin cut-off and is located near the mouth of the Rock River, on the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. Port Byron is one of the oldest towns in the county and was laid out in August, 1836, by citizens of Rock Island. In the '40s and '50s it became a leading Mis- sissippi River town and manufacturing point, and during the Civil war period was a well known station of the "underground railroad"; it is now a station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad and cannot muster more than 500 people. Hampton to the south and Cordova to the north, on the same line, are stations and trading points of some standing, and Reynolds, in the southern part of the county on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, has survived since that line reached it in 1876. TOWNSHIPS of TIIK COUNTY At the general November election of 1856, a vote was taken to decide upon township organization in Rock Island County; the decision was '2, 314 in favor of it. and 147 against. Shortly afterward, the committee appointed by the Com- missioners' Court reported, with their boundaries, the townships of Cordova, Port Byron, Canoe Creek, Fremont, Hampton, Walker, Moline, Coal Valley, Rock Island, Camden, Edgington, Bowling, Buffalo Prairie and Drnry. There arc now eighteen townships in the county. Fremont. Walker and Camden have disappeared from the originals, and Andalusia. Black Hawk, Coe, Rural, South Moline, South Rock Island and Zuma have been added. CHAPTER XXIX CHRONOLOGY RELATING TO THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY In noting the facts bearing upon the development of the Rock River Valley those only of close connection can have a place. That wonderful inlet to the vast northern basin of the Mississippi system lies between the Wisconsin River on the north and the Illinois River on the south and is one of the splendid waterways which the hand of nature has providentially molded to join the splendors and utilities of the great lakes with those of the great river. Like the "Wisconsin and the Illinois rivers, it determined the migration of the aborig- inal peoples who were to war over its beautiful and fertile fields and hills, and who were finally to be expelled by a race which, as a whole, was wedded to family and home institutions, the development of which required uninter- rupted stability and progress. The bold colors and the high lights of this marvelous development are first traced in the steady progress of those Indian tribes from the upper regions of Lake Michigan and along the valley of the Pox River into that of the Rock. 1666-67 — Allouez, the Jesuit missionary, finds various bands of Sauk and Foxes near Chequamegon Bay, in northern Wisconsin and the upper waters of Lake Superior. 1669 — Allouez commences the establishment of missions on the western shores of Green Bay. Discovers a village of six hundred Indians at the site of Oconto. It embraced gathering of Sauk, Foxes, Winnebago and Pottowatomi. He reports numerous other villages scattered over the surrounding region of Green Bay, whither these tribes had been driven by the Ottawa of the north. 1670 — Allouez meets the Illinois Indians at the Mascoutin village on the upper Fox, near site of the present Portage City, on their migration west- ward to the Mississippi. 1718 — The Sauk and Foxes obtain a foothold in Rock River Valley. 1722 — The Foxes attack the Illini at present localities of Peoria, Starved Rock and other points in the Illinois River Valley. The Illini pressed west- ward and joined Indians of Mississippi Valley. Winnebagoes and Potta.watomies occupy portions of the middle and upper Rock River Valley. 1730 — The allied Sauk and Foxes move down the Rock River Valley, driving the Kaskaskias to the Mississippi and establish a village on the point of land at the confluence of the Rock with the Mississippi River. The village -finally expanded along the north bank of the Rock River to what is now south Rock Island, and became one of the largest Indian settlements of a permanent char- acter on the North American continent. It was known as Saukenuk. 1767 — Birth of Black Hawk, or Black Sparrow Hawk. Various localities from the Rock River Valley to Kaskaskia claim to have been his birthplace. 728 THE ROCK RIVKK VALLEY 729 lTtiT — loiiatluiii Carver, the English traveler, visits ;i large Sauk village in the Wisconsin River Valley, at the site of Prairie du Sac, in what is now the southeastern part of Sank County, Wisconsin. 1804 — Treaty of November 3d of that year, at St. Louis, between William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana territory and superintendent of Indian affairs, ami five chiefs of the Sank and Foxes, by which nearly 15,000,000 acres of land between the "Wisconsin River on the north, Fox River of Illinois on the east and southeast and the Mississippi on the west, were ceded to the United States. The cession included the Rock River Valley. Article seven of the treaty stipulated that as long as the lands remained government prop- erty the Indians should have the privilege of living and hunting on them. 1809 — By congressional act of February 3d, Indiana territory was divided, the western part becoming Illinois. 1812— The treaty of 1804 and the War of 1812 severed the alliance of the Sank and Foxes. Black Hawk boldly took his stand as leader of the British hand. He denied the validity of the treaty. 1814 — On July 19th, Black Hawk and 400 of his warriors attack Lieutenant Campbell and his force of about 100 regulars and rangers, on the island six miles east of Moline. The Indians killed sixteen Americans, including a woman and child, and wounded about as many more. The engagement, resulting in the retreat of the American force, is known as the Battle of Campbell's Island. In the following month occurred "Major Taylor's battle," which also resulted in a victory for Black Hawk, aided by a small British force. 1816 — United States troops arrive on Rock Island, May 10th, to build Fort Armstrong. Among the arrivals were George Davenport and his wife. The latter was the first American woman to ascend the Mississippi to that point. On May 13th, the chiefs of the Sauk of Rock River met at St. Louis and ratified the treaty of 1804. Fort Crawford, at Prairie du Chien, erected by General Thomas A. Smith. Closely identified with the history of the upper Rock River Valley. 1817 — Birth of George L. Davenport in the family home, Rock Island; first native white child of the valley. 1818 — On the 13th of April of this year Congress passed the act enabling Illinois to become a State. Formally admitted December 3d. Northern bound- ary established as the parallel of latitude 42' 30" from Lake Michigan to the ^Mississippi, taking from Wisconsin what are now the Illinois counties of Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll, Ogle, DuPage, Kane, Cook, Whiteside, Lee and De Kalb and the northern portions of Will. Kendall, LaSalle and Rock Island. Colonel George Davenport, English ti'ader and American soldier, builds a double log cabin on Rock Island. Antoine Leclaire, French trader and half- breed, settles on the north bank of the Rock River among his Indian relatives at Saukenuk. .May 25th: Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac counties were organ- ized from Michigan Territory, embracing the whole of the present Wisconsin, as well as parts of Michigan and the upper peninsula of Michigan. 730 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 1820 — Explorers commence to move up the Mississippi Valley to the lead mines of the Galena district. 1822 — Government decided to lease lands in what is now southwestern Wisconsin for mining purposes. Colonel James Johnson, having secured a lease of the present Galena, began mining on a large scale. There followed an inrush of speculators and prospectors into that section. 1823 — First session of Crawford County court was held (May 12th.) at Prairie du Chien. The United States Circuit Court held its first session at the same place (October 17th), James D. Doty presiding judge. First steamboat arrives at Fort Armstrong over the Rock Island rapids. Influx of white squatters upon the fertile lands at the mouth of Rock River, still occupied by the Sauk and Foxes under the terms of their treaties with the United States. Thibault, French Canadian trader, settles at Turtle village, a Winnebago settlement on the present site of Beloit, Wis. 1824- — Judge James D. Doty holds first session of the United States Cir- cuit Court in Brown County, at Green Bay, on October 4th. 1825 — A treaty was concluded at Prairie du Chien in August by William Clark and Lewis Cass, government commissioners, between the Indians of Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin, establishing tribal boundaries and making peace between the tribes. Oliver W. Kellogg breaks overland trail from Peoria, by way of what are now the Dixon vicinity, Mount Morris, West Grove, and thence in a gen- erally northwesterly direction to Galena. Not long afterward John Boles cut off some of the curves of the Kellogg trail, crossing the Rock River where Dixon now stands, and soon the ford at that point became widely known to all those entering the lead regions of northwest Illinois and southwest Wisconsin. Henry County, 111., created by legislative act of January 13 (1825). Takes its name from Patrick Henry, the patriot. Colonel George Davenport appointed first postmaster at Rock Island. During same year (1825), Colonel Davenport builds first ferry across the Mississippi between Farnhamsburg (Rock Island) and Davenport, la. April 8th : The government reserves Rock Island for military purposes. 1826 — -Fort Crawford was abandoned and the troops sent to Fort Snelling near St. Paul. First religious services in Rock Island County held at Fort Armstrong. 1827 — The Winnebago Indians murdered several half-breeds and attacked two keel boats on the Mississippi. These outrages produced great alarm. Settlers fled to Prairie du Chien, and there organized and manned the aban- doned fort. Troops were, however, sent from St. Louis and Fort Snelling. Colonel Henry Dodge raised a hundred volunteers in the lead mines. Major William Whistler, in command at Fort Howard, moved up the Fox to Portage, and the troops on the Wisconsin under General Henry Atkinson pursued the fleeing Winnebago. They were overtaken near Portage and gave up the mur- derers, one of whom (Red Bird) soon died in prison. His associates were Iried and sentenced, but afterward pardoned on condition that the Winne- bago cede their mining lands to the United States. > a X os 732 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Oliver W. Kellogg, first permanent settler of Stephenson County, located at Burr Oak Grove, 111. J. L. Bogardus, of Peoria, establishes a ferry across the Rock River at the present site of Dixon. 1828 — In September Fort Winnebago was begun at Portage, Wis., by Major David E. Twiggs. 1829 — The first settlers upon the present site of Moline (Milltown), 111., were Joel Wells and sons who located in January of the year named. Stephen Mack, first permanent settler of Winnebago County, 111., located in Rockton township in 1829. One of the pioneers of Rock River Valley. On December 7th of this year Joseph Ogee, an intemperate adventurer with an Indian wife, obtained a license to operate another ferry (that of Bogardus having been discontinued) at the Dixon locality. Two treaties were made at Prairie du Chien, Wis., in July and August, 1829 ; the earlier one, with the Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomie tribes, conveyed the lands south and east of Rock River, and that of the following month, with the Winnebagoes, all tracts claimed by the latter south and west of Rock River. 1830 — In July of this year Keokuk, the Sauk chief, made a final cession of the tribal lands east of the Mississippi and agreed to move his people to its western shores. Black Hawk, not a chief, but a brave or head warrior, opposed the measure and placed himself at the head of a rebellious party, as was his custom. John Dixon, late of Peoria and a mail contractor between that place and Galena, arrives with his family, on April 11th, to take over the ferry from Ogee. It became Dixon's Ferry, 111., and continued to be a prosperous venture. In September the postofnce of Ogee's Ferry was established there, with "Father" Dixon as postmaster. 1831 — On February 9th, Rock Island County was created by act of the Legislature and attached to Jo Daviess County for judicial and political purposes. Buffalo Grove precinct established by the commissioners of Jo Daviess County, 111., and John Dixon, Isaac Chambers and John Ankeny appointed judges of election. When Black Hawk's band of Sauk and Foxes returned from a hunt west of the Mississippi to their village at the mouth of the Rock River, in the winter of 1831, they found it occupied by white settlers. Its site had been surveyed and purchased by a fur trader at Rock Island. Black Hawk ordered the settlers away and commenced to destroy their property. On April 30th and May 9th, petitions were sent to Governor Reynolds by the white settlers for protection. On June 26th, combined force of regular troops under General Edward P. Gainos and Rock Island rangers under Brigadier General Joseph Duncan, of the State militia, took possession of Black Hawk's deserted village. 1832— Notwithstanding the treaty of June 30, 1831, on April 6, 1832, Black Hawk crosses the Mississippi at Yellow Banks (now Oquawka, Henderson County, 111.) and, with 1,000 Indians, including warriors, women and chil- dren, marches up to the mouth of the Rock River, opposite his old village. Continues to Prophet's village (Prophetstown, Whiteside County, 111.). THE ROCK RIVEB VALLEY 733 Genera] Henry Atkinson arrives al Fori Armstrong', on April 12th, in gen- eral charge of the situation, and orders Black Hawk to recross the Mississippi. The head warrior continues his march up the Rock River Valley and encamps at Ogee's Perry, Bending bis women and children under an escort of Winne- bagoes to Lake Koahkonong, near the present boundary of Jefferson and Rock counties. Wis. Governor Reynolds raises a force of 1,800 volunteers to repel Black Hawk. This army arrived at Ogee's Ferry, in command of General Samuel White- side, on May 12, 1832. In the meantime Black Hawk had advanced thirty miles further up the valley for a conference with the Pottawatomies at Syca- more Creek, and induced a portion of them to join his party. His force was also augmented by a war party of W T innebagoes. When Whiteside reached Ogee's Ferry, he found awaiting him two bat- talions of volunteers numbering about 340 men. The commanding officer was requested by one Major Stillman to be allowed to make a reconnoissance on Black Hawk's camp. Unfortunately, two parties sent out by the Sauk leader bearing flags of truce were fired upon by Major Stillman 's scouts, which brought on a fierce attack on the part of the Allied Indians. In the engagement eleven of the Illinois volunteers were killed. The creek at which the whites were thus defeated has since been called Stillman 's Run. The final engagement which ended the war fought at the mouth of the Bad Axe, Wis., when Black Hawk's warriors were preparing to cross the Mis- sissippi, on August 2, 1832. In the battle, 150 of the Indians were killed and many others wounded and drowned. Treacherous Winnebagoes captured Black Hawk and he was delivered to the military authorities on the 27th of August. On September 15, 1832, the Winnebagoes ceded all their lands lying east of the Mississippi River in Wisconsin to the general government. 1833 — First permanent house in Stephenson County, 111., built by William Waddams at Waddams Grove. First election for officers of Rock Island County held at Farnhamsburg, July 5th. On September 21, 1833, treaty made by General Winfield Scott and Gov- ernor John Reynolds with the Sauk and Foxes, at Fort Armstrong, by which (1) those tribes ceded to the United States a large tract of land in Iowa; (2) the United States agreed to pay Farnham & Davenport, Indian traders at Rock Island, $40,000, to satisfy their claims against the Indians; (3) grants of land to Antoine Leclaire, Indian interpreter, comprising two sections op- posite Rock Island and at the head of the first rapids above; (4) Black Hawk and Ins two sons, the Prophet, his brother and two sons, and other head men "to be held as hostages for the future good conduct of the late hostile tribes, (hiring the pleasure of the president of the United States."' This treaty was signed by the marks of nine of the Sauk, including Keokuk, and by twenty- four of the Foxes. 1834 — Land offices were established al .Mineral Point and Green Bay. Wis. The first public land sale was held at .Mineral Point. Leonard Andrus makes claim to the site of the present village of Grand Detour, 111. 734 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Name of post office, Ogee's Ferry, changed to Dixon's Ferry. In June of this year Hezekiah Brink builds the first log hut in what is now the First ward of Sterling, 111. On August 24th, Germanicus Kent and Thatcher Blake arrive from Galena on the future site of Rockford, 111. 1835 — Dr. Thomas Baker settles in town of Colona, 111., April 8th, being the pioneer of Henry County. First settlers at what afterward became Belvidere, 111., locate on the banks of the Kishwaukee River. In August, Ebenezer Peck and others, of Chicago, take up claims in what is now North Belvidere. Town platted and named after Mr. Peck's native place in Canada. In the autumn of this year Stephen Mack founds Macktown, at the mouth of the Pecatonica, Winnebago County, 111. It afterward became Rockton. Caleb Blodgett of Vermont first permanent settler at Beloit, Wis. On June 8th, Stephenson (Rock Island) selected as the seat of justice of Rock Island County. John Inman, of Lucerne County, Pa., and William Holmes, of Ohio, journey from Milwaukee, Wis., and (November 18th) locate opposite the Big Rock, being the first settlers upon the site of Janesville and the pioneers of Rock County, Wis. 1836 — The Territory of Wisconsin was organized April 20th, by act of Congress. Henry Dodge was appointed governor, and on July 4th territorial organization was completed with John S. Horner of Virginia as secretary. The new officers were sworn in at Mineral Point, then the largest town in the territory. On November 24th, the embryonic Madison, Judge Doty's town, was chosen the capital. Dane County created December 7, 1836, and Madison named as its seat of justice. 1836 — Thomas Ford, while serving as circuit judge for the northern part of Illinois, settles in Oregon, 111. Several years later he became governor. The legislative act of January 16th provides for the organization of Mc- Henry, Winnebago, Kane, Ogle and Whiteside counties and the reorganization of Jo Daviess County, 111. Winnebago County derives its name from the Indian tribe by that name; Ogle, from Captain Joseph Ogle, a brave Revolu- tionary soldier, and Whiteside, from General Whiteside, a famous Indian fighter and prominent in the Black Hawk war. Charter of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, January 16, 1836 ; first railroad in Rock River Valley. In June of this year, first steamboat ascends the Rock River as far as Janesville, Wis, Rock County, Wis., formed from Milwaukee County, by territorial act of December 7th (1836). Named from the big rock on the north side of the river, an Indian landmark formerly located within the present limits of Janesville. 1837 — A treaty was made by Governor Dodge with the Menominee Indians by which they ceded to the United States about 4,000 acres in Michigan and Wisconsin. After refusing to treat with Dodge, the Winnebago chiefs were invited to Washington, where they signed a treaty ceding all their Wisconsin lands and agreeing to move from the territory. THE ROCK RIVEB GALLEY 735 Town site of Madison, Wis., was surveyed and platted and the first capitol begun. Remnants of the Sauk and Poxes cede the last of their lands in Eastern [owa, with the exception of a small reservation in Davis County, and with- draw to a reservation in Kansas One of the first corporations to be formed in the Roek River Valley was the Dixon (111.) Hotel Company, which was created by the Illinois General Assembly during the year 1837. The building got as far as the foundation which occupied a part of the site of the Xachusa House of today. In the spring (1837) Henry T. and Edward Janes, from Laporte, Ind., settled on the site of Janesville, Wis. About the same time Geneseo, Henry County, 111., in the lower Roek River Valley, was platted by a colony from Genesee County, N. Y., of whom R. R. IStewart, of Geneseo, that State, was the leader. Creation of Boone and Stephenson counties, 111., by act of the General Assembly passed March 4, 1837. The former was named in honor of the famous frontiersman and the latter perpetuates the record of Colonel Benjamin Steph- enson, a prominent Illinois figure in the War of 1812 and one of the ter- ritorial delegates to Congress. Murder of John Campbell, captain of the regulators of Ogle Count} 7 , by a member of the notorious gang of outlaws known as the Banditti of the Prairies, at White Roek, on the 27th of June, 1837. Janesville made the county seat of Rock County, Wis., on December 27, 1837. 1838 — Congress appropriated land to endow- the University of the Territory of Wisconsin. John Deere, the Vermont blacksmith, founds his plow works at Grand Detour, 111. In June of this year first courthouse completed at Rock Island. Death of Black Hawk, at his reservation in Davis County, la., on October 3, 1838. 1839 — East and West Rockford, 111., incorporated as one town, on April 4th of this year. Lee County created February 27th; named in honor of Light Horse Harry Lee of Revolutionary fame. Corner stone of Rock River Seminary building laid at Mount Morris, Ogle County, 111., July 4, 1839. Lyndon declared the seat of justice of Whiteside County, 111., September 23d. 1840 — First courthouse of Stephenson County completed. Land office moved from Galena to Dixon. 1841 — First frame courthouse completed in Janesville, east side of the Rock River in the Third Ward. By legislative act of February 27th the name of the town of Stephenson changed to Rock Island. Sterling made the seat of justice for Whiteside County in June of this year. 1842 — Town of Beloit chartered by the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin on February 17th. Stephen Mack builds the first bridge across the Rock River in Illinois at Macktown (Rockton), 111. 736 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 1843 — First courthouse completed at Belvidere, Boone County, 111. Moline (Milltowii), 111., platted on June 6th. Cambridge, Henry County, 111., platted June 9th. Margaret Fuller's visit to Ogle County, 111., summer of 1843. 1845 — Colonel George Davenport murdered at his residence on Rock Island, July 4th. First dam completed at Rockford, 111., in autumn of the year. Seminary located at Rockford by trustees of Beloit College, in December, 1845. 1846 — The people of Wisconsin voted in favor of a State Government, Congress passed the enabling act, and the first Constitutional Convention opened at Madison, October 15th of this year. Charter of Beloit College approved by governor of "Wisconsin territory, February 2d of this year. 1847 — Rockford Seminary chartered on February 25th. The first Wisconsin constitution rejected by popular vote, April 5th. The second Constitutional Convention convenes at Madison, December 15th. John Deere moves his plow works from Grand Detour to Moline. Convention at Rockford, on January 7th, to promote the building of the Galena & Chicago Union, at which were representatives from the counties of Cook, DeKalb, McHenry, Rock, Ogle, Boone, Lee, Kane, Stephenson, Winne- bago and Jo Daviess. Rockford Seminary chartered February 25, 1847. 1848 — The second constitution of Wisconsin adopted by popular vote on .March 13th. The State admitted into the Union under act of Congress, ap- proved May 29th. Mount Morris village, 111., incorporated, January 8th. 1849 — The construction of the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad begun. Anna P. Sill opens Rockford Female Seminary as a preparatory school on June 11th. Wisconsin Academy for the Education of the Blind established at Janes- ville in the fall of this year; one of the first benevolent institutions to be founded by the new State of Wisconsin. 1851 — Private school of Anna P. Sill recognized by Beloit College as the preparatory department of Rockford Female Seminary. The first State Fair in Wisconsin held at Janesville. 1852 — First city election at Rockford, 111., on April 19th. Galena & Chicago Union Railroad reaches East Rockford, August 2d. Village of Pecatonica, Winnebago County, 111., platted by Thomas D. Rob- ertson and John A. Holland. 1853 — First settlement at Roehelle (Hickory Grove), Ogle County, 111. Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad completed to Madison. 1854 — Kewanee, Henry County, 111., platted on either side of the Military Tract (C. B. & Q. Railroad), on May 1st. 1855 — Morrison, Whiteside County, 111., surveyed; named for Charles Mor- rison, a New York merchant and a friend of one of the proprietors. Rev. Stephen Peet dies at Beloit, Wis., on March 21, 1855 ; widely known Presbyterian missionary and founder of the Chicago Theological Seminary. THE ROCK RIVER PALLET 737 Lurninf Foci Armstrong, Rock Island, 7th of October. ]s.")i; l.t-loit incorporated as a city. Janesville connected by rail with Chicago. Firsl locomotive and cars of the old Chicago & Rock Island Railroad crossed the wooden bridge (the first structure to span the Mississippi River), from Rock Island, 111., to Davenport, la., on April 21, 1856. Lincoln delivers a speech at Oregon, Ogle County, 111., August 16, 1856. A boulder, dedicated in September, 1904, marks the approximate locality where the address was delivered. 1857 — Town of Polo, Ogle County, 111., incorporated, February 16th. Sterling, Whiteside County, 111., elects first city officers in April. 1858 — Freeport, Stephenson County, 111., was the only place in the Rock River Valley where Lincoln and Douglas met in debate, in the fall of 1858. In the historic canvass for the United States Senate they had spoken in two of the congressional districts of Illinois, when they arranged their joint debate, and consequently they agreed upon seven more, for the remaining districts of the State. The first was held at Ottawa, LaSalle County, August 21st; the second at Freeport, August 27th. A massive granite boulder marks the historic locality. It was erected and inscribed by the Freeport Woman's Club in 1902 and dedicated by President Roosevelt in the following year. 1859 — Edward V. Whiton, member of Wisconsin Constitutional Convention of 1M7 and chief justice of the state, died at Janesville, Wis., April 12th of this year. 1861 — First regiments for the Civil war to be mustered into the service in the Rock River Valley, under the Ten Regiment act, on May 24th — the Thirteenth at Dixon, 111., and the 15th at Freeport, 111. Governor Alexander W. Randall, of Wisconsin, issued a proclamation call- ing for volunteers, on the 15th of April. Thirty-six companies tendered their services within one week. Sixteen regiments were mustered from the State during the year. 1862 — On April 19th, Governor Louis P. Harvey, while on a visit to the South to care for Wisconsin soldiers wounded at Shiloh, was drowned in the Tennessee River. In April, about 700 Confederate prisoners were received at Camp Randall, Madison. By act of Congress, July 11th of this year, a national arsenal was located on Rock Island and $100,000 appropriated for buildings. 1863 — First permanent building of national arsenal erected at west end of the island, as a storehouse. Still standing. First commandant of arsenal, Major C. P. Kingsbury, assumes office July 27th. About the same time prisoners' barracks (military prison) built for con- federates. A soldiers' hospital, named in honor of Governor Harvey, was opened in Madison through the efforts of his widow. 1864 — Galena & Chicago Union consolidated with other roads (June 2d) as the Chicago & North- Western. 1867 — Ex-Governor Henrv Dodge died on the 19th of June. 738 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY Rock Falls, opposite Sterling, Whiteside County, 111., founded bj T A. P. Smith. 1872 — The Wisconsin Dairymen's Association was organized at Watertown, with "market days" established for the meeting of buyers and sellers of Wis- consin cheese. Death of Alexander W. Randall, Wisconsin's first war governor, on July 26th. First election of Moline City, 111., officers, on August 6th. 1874 — Collapse of the Truesdell bridge, at Dixon, causing the death of forty-three persons. 1875 — The first cotton mills in the State established at Janesville, Wis. 1877 — Fall of the Rockford (111.) courthouse, on account of defective con- struction, on the 11th of May, causing the death of nine and the wounding of thirteen persons. 1878 — On May 23rd, a cyclone swept through Grant, Iowa, Dane, Jeffer- son and territory farther east. Twelve or fifteen persons were killed and there was a large destruction of property. 1879— Mt. Morris College (111.) opens August 20th. 1881 — First train over the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad arrives at Rockford, 111., November 21st. Death of United States Senator Matt. H. Carpenter, on February 24th. 1883 — Establishment of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Madison under the auspices of the State University. 1884 — Science Hall, State University, destroyed by fire on December 1st. 1888 — First train over the Illinois Central from the east to reach Rock- ford, 111., on August 5th. Passenger depot opened at the same time. 1891 — Death of Lyman C. Draper, secretary of the Wisconsin State His- torical Society from 1854 to 1886, on the 27th of August. 1892 — Name of Rockford Seminary changed to Rockford College, in June. Excavations for Hennepin canal at western end commenced at Milan, White- side County, 111., in July. 1893 — "Old Sandstone," the Rock River Seminary building, at Mount Morris, 111., razed in 1893, and Ladies' Hall, of the College, erected near its site. 1898 — Founding of the Artists' Colony, at Eagle's Nest bluff, near Oregon, Ogle County, 111., by Wallace Heckman of Chicago. More than a decade after- ward Lorado Taft created the great statue of Black Hawk which looms above Eagle's Nest and can be seen majestically standing against the sky for many miles up and down the Rock River Valley. Spanish-American war: Wisconsin raised and equipped four regiments of infantry and one battery — 5,469 men in all. 1899 — Third and Fourth regiments of Wisconsin infantry mustered out of the service, in January and February. (See Chapter XVI for participation of Illinois regiments.) 1900- — Dedication of the new State Historical Library building at Madi- son, Wis., on October 19th. 1901 — Robert M. La Fbllette inaugurated governor of Wisconsin at Madi- son. He was the first native-born executive of the State. Death of Charles Kendall Adams, former president of the State Univer- sity, on the 28th of July. THE ROCK RIVER VALLKY 739 1!»03 — Chief Justice Orsamus Cole, of Wisconsin, died on .May 5th. 1904 — On June 5-9, the State University of Wisconsin celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its first graduating class, and Charles R. Van Hise, the first alumnus to hold the presidency, was installed into office. A large part of the State capitol at Madison was burned on February 27th. 1905 — Agitation for the removal of the State capital to either Oshkosh or Milwaukee was put at rest by preliminary appropriations for a new capitol. 1906 — In January and February, destructive ice jam presses down the lower Rock River Valley causing special havoc at Dixon and Sterling, 111. Old Davenport home on Rock Island restored by the Rock Island Old Set- tlers Association, assisted by the granddaughters of Colonel Davenport. 1907 — Legislative appropriations were completed for a new capitol at Madi- son to cost ultimately $6,000,000. Grand celebration of the completion of the Hennepin canal at Rock Falls, on the 24th of October. 1908 — Death of former United States Senator and Postmaster General Wil- liam F. Vilas, on the 27th of August. The will of the deceased created a trust fund, from which it is hoped that ultimately $30,000,000 will accrue to the Wisconsin State University. 1912 — Dixon State Colony for Epileptics chartered by the General Assembly. 1913 — Rockford experiences destructive tornado and cloud burst on July 8th. The city was in the direct path of the storm and the loss to property was estimated at $100,000. There was no direct loss of life. Death of Reuben G. Thwaites, secretary and superintendent of the Wis- consin State Historical Society for twenty-six years, on the 22nd of October, this year. Great fire at Janesville, Wis., on April 1st, entailing a loss of $300,000. (For participation of the Rock River Valley, as a whole, in the World war, see Chapter XVI.) 1914-18 — During the period that the United States was involved in the World war, the most notable manifestation of its activities in the Rock River Valley, and one of the greatest in the United States, was centered in the national arsenal at Rock Island. From August, 1914, to November, 1918, which cov- ered that period, the employees of the arsenal increased in number from nearly 2,000 to 15,000, and a great city of new buildings arose to carry on the un- precedented production of war materials and arms. Perhaps the most important production was in rifles, of which nearly 114,000 were manufactured. Heavy ordnance stores, harnesses, bacon cans, knives, canteen covers, haversacks, pack carriers, and dozens of other articles needed in the equipment of the American and European soldier, were turned out of the great Rock Island Arsenal, rightly called "war's greatest workshop." More than $89, 000,000 was spent of the government appropriations in the operation of the vasl industry, and the employees of the arsenal showed their patriotism by subscribing $4,000,000 for bonds and war charities. 1918 — Death of Charles R. Van Bise, famous geologist and president of the University of Wisconsin, on November 19th. Death of William I). Hoard, of Fort Atkinson, ex-governor and founder of Hoard's Dairyman, on November 22nd. Vol. 1—47 740 THE ROCK RIVER VALLEY 1919 — State Department of Public Welfare adds the Colony for the Feeble Minded to the State Colony for Epileptics at Dixon, 111. Friends of Our Native Landscape appoint a special committee to investi- gate such lands as are worthy of preservation. Since that year the committee has completed its survey and recommends, in an illustrated pamphlet, that certain areas be preserved in the Rock River Valley of Lee, Ogle and Winne- bago counties, 111., as well as the white pine forest tract in Ogle County. The special section in the Rock River Valley indicated is that between Oregon and Dixon, generally known as the Grand Detour region. At that village, midway between Oregon and Dixon, the Rock River takes a great bend and returns to within half a mile of its southern course. The white pine tract in Ogle County is nine miles from Oregon and seven from Polo. It is said to be the southernmost extension of white pine in this section of the United States, and the recommendation of the committee there- fore is that the tract be reserved as a State Forest. Death of Ella Wheeler (Wilcox), a native of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, Oc- tober 30th of the year named. 1924 — In June, contracts let and work begun on low-head hydro-electric plant at Dixon, to be built by the Illinois Northern Utilities Company at a cost of at least $500,000. 1924 — Defeat of Robert M. La Follette, Wisconsin's first candidate for the presidency. He carried his own State by a majority of 73,968 over Coolidge and Davis, and a plurality over Coolidge of 14,264. 1925 — Death of La Follette on June 18th of this year. MAIN STEEET, JUNEAU INDEX Abundant evidences of prehistoric occupancy, 25. Adams. ( 'a ]>t. John G., 113. Advance against Black Hawk's town, 88. Agricultural facts, [920 census, by counties, 244. Agricultural wealth of the Valley, 243. Albany and Erie, 652. Alden on Wisconsin geology, 18. Alexander, Col. Milton K., 86. Allouez held Foxes stingy, thieving, 42. Allouez impressed by Illinois and Pottawa- tomie, 41. Also "Dad Joe" Smith, 609. Ambush at Kellogg's Grove, 121. "Amusement," the murder of a few captives a day, 45. Anderson, Lieut. Robert, 108. Anderson, Mrs. K. T., 143. Andrus, Leonard, 570. Another developmental year, 1850, 553. Ant i Democratic sentiment in Ogle County, 191. Appeals to Governor Reynolds, 82. Appellate courts. Second district Valley resi- dents who have served in, 276. Armstrong, Perry A., 100. Army hot on Indian trail, 126. Army resumes advance up Valley, 125. Arrangement for Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, 210. Arsenal at Rock Island, facts about, 713. Arsenal commandants prior to World war, 708. Arsenal, pen picture of, 720. Arsenal water power, since IS66, 719. Artiste' Colony near Oregon, The, 581. As an agricultural county, 679. Lets in founding Galva, 070. < Kit inns i 1,'iN-k [aland.), 697. Atkinson, General, 103. Attempt tn restore Horicon Marsh, 252. Attempts to locate hostile [ndians, 125. Atwood. David, 342. Angustana College and Theological Seminary, 321, 684. Allgllstana Synod organized, f>86. Automobile lines, 239. B Bailey, Maj. David, 104. Bailey, Joseph M., 276, 289. Baker, E. D., 189. Hall game big Indian sport, 29. Ball game dance, 30. Banditti of the prairies, The, 477. Eanks, Moline's, 726. Hanks of Beloit, 421. Banks of Dodge County, 264; of Rock Coun- ty, 266; of Dane County, 268; of Jefferson County, 268; of Winnebago County, 270; of Stephenson County, 270; of Boone Coun- ty, 272; of Ogle County, 272; of Lee County, 272; of Whiteside County, 273; of Henry County, 273; of Rock Island County, 274. Banks of the Valley today, 264. Baraboo Air Line, 224. Barbour, James J., 305. Bashford, Robert M., 281. Battle of Campbell's Island, 65. Battle of Wisconsin Heights, The, 126. Beall, Major, 108. Bear, Raccoon, Muskrat skins, 33. Beaver Dam, Waupun and other Dodge Coun- ty cities, 310. Hi aver skins, 33. Beauties of Rock Island section, 14. Beeswax, feathers, tallow, 33. Beginnings of Augustana College, 684. Beginnings of dairying — Emery, 246. Belief in manitous, 37. Bell, John, 21 +. Beloit Banks, 421. Beloit College, 310; history of, 402. Beloit Free Press and Round Table, 342. Beloit 's part in war, 422. Belvidere and the county buildings, 170. Belvidero of the present, 536. Belvidere precinct, father of county, 528. Belvidere settled, 528. Belvidere under corporate form, 534. Bench and Bar of the Valley, 27"). Benevolent orders, etc (Rock Island), 697. Bennett, John R., 284. Pent. Charles, 352; and the Sentinel, 650. Bigelow, Hiram, 276. Birth and early manhood of Black Hawk, 54. Birth and growth of the Register-Gazette, 346. Hlack Hawk on life of Rock River Indians, 28; on lovers' tragedy, 30; at close of Revolution, 55; defeats Osages, 56; heir to medicine bag, 56; turns his back on Americans, 57; disclaimed treaty of 1804, 59; fails to carry Ft. Madison, 61; war, 61; joins British, 62; and Keokuk con- 741 742 INDEX trasted, 62; eager to attack Taylor, 67; confirms treaty of 1804, 71; Flitting Shadows of, 81; not in fear of regular soldiers, 86; wrenched with conflicting emotions, 90; finally signs treaty, 93; failed to appear at Bock Island, 93; com- ments on U. S. move, 97 ; in last attempt to break Keokuk's power, 100; delivers fiery oration, 100; recrosses Mississippi, 102; would protect Gratiot, 105; news of his location, 109; battling and battering, 110; routs Stillman's command, 112; with 500 warriors against 3,000, 114; springs, 118; repulsed from. Apple Eiver fort, 122; pursued by Henry and Dodge, 126; only decisive defeat of, 129; in keeping of Keokuk, 133; last days of, 134; buried in suit given by President Jackson, 136; fed at Dixon's, 150; war and politics, 179; war made political fortunes, 180 ; Statue, by Dorado Taft, 582.; on building of fort, 702, Black Hawk's watch tower, 14, 27, 31, 55, 142. Black Hawk's crushing defeat, 131; Village, 142. Blackwell, Bobert, 114. Blake, Thatcher, 466. Bliss and St. Vrain demand surrender to government of Indian leaders, 97. Bloody Indian reprisals, 96. Bloomington Convention, The, 204. Boards abolished, 186. Boles, John, shortens route, 146. Boone County, Illinois, 526; extended west- ward, 531 ; never had county seat fight, 169; among first counties to adopt town- ship system, 171. Bouquet, Henry, 51. Bovay, Alvan E., 200. Bovay initiated movement for organizing, and named the party, 201. Boyd, Charles S., 149. Boy takes message to Galena, 124. Bradwell, Myra, 292. Brazell, Christopher M., 290. Breckenridge, John C, 214. Bridge construction era starts, 231. Brigadier General Geo. W. Burr, 715. Browne, J. Stanley, 346. Brown, William, 289. Brundage, Edward J., 304. Bryant on Bock River, 14. Bryant, William Cullen, 14, 293. Buckmaster, Maj. Nathaniel, 87. Buffalo Grove Half-way Station to Mines, 572. Buffalo Grove post office and village, 573. Buffalo Grove precinct, The, 157. Building courthouse (Boone) slow, 171. Building of Fort Armstrong, 700. Building of dam and early mills, C21. Building of Fort Armstrong, 72. I'.m'bank, Lieut. Sidney, 107. Burchard, Horatio C, 559. Burlington Boute, The, 228. Burr, Brig. Gen. Geo. W., 715. Butterfield on Nicolet, 41. Byron and adjacent region, 598. C Gahokias, 40. Calumet dance most important religious cere- mony, 37. Cambridge Chronicle, 354. Cambridge, the county seat, 660. Campaign in Winnebago County, The, 190. Campaign of 1856, The, 206. Campaign of 1860, The, 213. Campbell couldn't take advice, 65. Campbell murdered, 294. Canadian Settlement, The, 586. Cane from Henry Clay buried with Black Hawk, 136. Captain Carver and the Sauk, 52. Captain Wilson introduced ferry alarms, 220. Capture and journey of Hall Sisters, 117. Carlin called special session, 186. Carl Sehurz enters journalism, 343. Carpenter, Matthew H., 283. Cartwright, James H., 276, 289. Cartwright, Rev. Barton H., 289. Carver, Capt. Jonathan, 51, 52 ; publishes a book, 53; and model Sauk village, 53. Carving of Boone County from Winnebago, 167. Casey's horse wounded, 124. Cassoday, John B., 281, 284. Castle Rock, 11. Catfish River, 6. Catlin on Indian ball game, 29. Cedarville, 553. Census (1920) facts and figures, agricultural, 243. Census (1920) figures on products, wages, wage-earners, 256. Cereals, by counties, 245. Change in county organization, 534. Chequamegon bay, 41. Cherry Valley, 523. Chicago & Great Western, The, 226. Chicago & Milwaukee R. R., 224. Chicago & Northwestern Ry. Co., 224. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R., 228. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, The, 224. Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac R. R. Co., 223. Chief Justice Whiton and the Glover deci- sion, 215. Chiefs signing treaty in 1816, 71. Chiefs who signed treaty (1831), 94. Children's Home, 519. Cholera and gold fever, The, 667. Cholera in 1850-52, 555. Chronology, 1881-1925 (Rockford), 508. Chronology of Dane Comity, 44i>. Chronology relating the Valley, 72S-740. IXDKX 743 ( lunch. I baa A.. 190. Church History, Beloit, 400. Church, Judge S. M., 214, 290. Churches and BchoolB of Henry County, 660. Churches and Societies, Moiine, 7 l.' < ; . Churches of Buffalo Grove and Dixon, 333. Churches of the Valley, The, 323. Circuit cmrts and judges, The, 276. Circuit judges of Winnebago County, ( ity of ! . The, 674. Madison, 444. City of Moiine, The, 722. • 'ity of Morrison, The, 645. City of tlic present (Moiine), '-'>. i ity of Watertown, 455. City plan, The, 519. Civilian and military guard, 715. (larks first white on mainland, 14.'!. • 'lark switched Indian, 144. jes of mounds in Winnebago County, 27. flay. - M.. LM4. Clinton, 423. t oaJ measures rest, 22. Colo. Cyrenus, 63. Cole. Oraamus, 281. Collapse of the campaign, 105. Collapse of the internal improvement sys- tem, 184. I ollege war spirit. The, 370. Col. Henry Gratiot's narrow escape, 105. Coining of railroads, The, 636. Coming of the Norwegians, 550. Command routed by Black Hawk, 112. Commencement of county seat fight, 632. Commission to locate seat of justice, 17'.'. Commissioners ' government abandoned in Il- linois, 175. Commissioners, Lee County, 173. Comparative dairy strength of Jefferson County, 461. Conferences with the Prophet, 90. Congregationalists, Baptists and other de- nominations, 327. Congressional representatives from Bock River Valley, 198. Congress sold part of Island, 706. Connecting Edwin A. Olson, U. S. District Attorney, 673. Constitutional convention of 1847, 195. Constitution ratified, 1848, 197. Construction basis laid by Generals Rodman and Flagler, 708. Contact and clash of races, 39. 'on test over location of county seat, 469. Cooke, George A., 276. Corn, oats and fodder crop-, 244. i on was staff of life, 34. Counties organized and stabilized, 155. County buildings (Whiteside Co.), 646. County of Dane created, 178, 440. County rule of commissioners' court, 619. County seat and courthouse at. Stephenson, 682. County seat contestants, 166. ( tounty -i -at located i Boone ' '<>.,> , 531. Course of the Valley in Wisconsin, 6. Courthouse (Boone Co.), completed, 531. Courthouse completed (Bockford), 507. (nil. tree, John !>., 276, 289. Crawfish River, 8. ( nation of a state park, The, 12. Creation of Boone County, 530. Creation of Old Winnebago County, 161. Crop acreage, Rock County, 438. D I 'airy section of northwestern Illinois, 246. Dairy figures for 1923 (Wis.), 249. Dairy State, The premier, 246. Dakota, 557. lane County, agriculturally, 445. Dane County overshadowed by state politics, 216. Dane County, Wisconsin, 439. Dane, Nathan, 178. Danforth, Col. J. B. and the Rock Island Argus and Union, 354. Data on the Valley, 728-740. Davenport and his trade, 145. Davenport, George, 72, 100, 143. Davenport, George L., 72. Davenport vs. Clark, 143. Davis, 557. Davis, First Lieut. Jefferson, 108. Davis, William, 116. Davison, Charles M., 282. Deacon, Tyrrell, 204. Death of Father Dixon, 624. Death knell of organized crime, 304. Dedication in 1880, 581. Deer skins, 33. Deere, John, 571. Delegates from valley counties, 197. gates to Bloomington convention, 205. Delegation from Roek River Valley, 195. Demands of the Spanish- American war, 710. Dement, Maj. John, 124. Democratic Jefferson County, 217. Democrats father convention system, 180. Donkmann Memorial Library, The, 690. Detroit massacre far from end of Foxes, 45. Developmental agencies, 240. Development of Belvidere, The, 533. Development of creameries, 458. I development of Mt. Morris College, 592. Development of present Rock Island, 683. De Villiers would murder all Foxes, 48. Difficulties in organizing volunteer army, 86. Disturbances in lead district, 122. Dixon, 258. Dixon Collegiate Institute, 318. Dixon, James P., 297. Dixon, John, 147, 206. Dixon, located as county seat, 173. Dixon of the present, The, 626. Dixon political seat of Lee County, 618. Dixon's Ferry in 1836-38, 617. 744 INDEX Dixon, Sherwood, founder of prominent law firms, 297. Dixon Telegraph and other Lee County pa- pers, 350. Dodge and volunteers to Hustisford, 119. Dodge County also taken from Milwaukee, 176. Dodge County as a whole, 450. Dodge County, Wisconsin, 446. Dodge, General, 115. Dodge made governor by President Jackson, 177. Doty, Elisha, 146. Doty, James Duane, 177. Double-headed county seat, 658. Douglas and Lincoln, Illinois leaders, 207. Douglas had everything to lose, nothing to gain, 210. Douglas opens his campaign, 210. Douglas splits with Buchanan, 208. Douglas, Stephen A., 182. Drainage unsystematic, 7. Dred Scott decision withheld, 209. Driseolls shot, 295. Driven ashore by winds, 65. Drury, Judge J. W., 300. Duncan, Hon. Joseph, 86, 104. Dunwiddie, B. F., 284. Durand, 523. Dutoher named county for Light Horse Harry Lee, 173. Dwight Foster public library, 460. E Eagle's Nest, Ganymede's Spring and Mar- garet Fuller Island, 580. Earliest officials, see under counties. Early church history, "Winnebago County, 482. Early churches in Bock County, 324. Early county organization, 469. Early efforts at improved transportation, 476. Early elections, 479. Early lawyers in Lee County, 296. Early manufactures (Beloit), 399. Early progress in Moline and Rock Island, 321. Early Protestant churches of Rock Island, 337. Early religious bodies organized, 335. Early schools, Jefferson County, 454. Early stage routes and hotels, 473. Early State Street in Beloit, 398. Early steamboats and ferries, 218. Early villages of Whiteside County, 638. East Moline, 727. Eckels, James H., 119. Pklitorial representatives from Valley, 203. Educational progress, 306. Education in Jefferson, Ft. Atkinson and Watertown, 309. Edwards, Ninian, 60. Ekorn, Herman L., 282. Emery, J. Q., on early dairying in Wisconsin, 246. Enrollment doubles, 504. Enter the substantial John Dixon, 149. Epochal year, 1837, The, 547. Erie, 652. Eustace, John V., 289, 298. Evansville, 434. Everett, Dr. Oliver, 620. Ewing, Col. John, 108. Explanation of clash with whites, 33. Expresses from Atkinson sent back, 103. F Factories of Beloit, 413-421. Facts about Sterling and Rock Falls, 644. Facts about the Valley, chronologicallv, 728- 740. Facts and figures on arsenal production, 713. Famous Dixon Home, The, 152. Famous trial of the banditti of the prairies, 293. Farmers' institutes, 242. Farm improvement associations, 242. Father Dixon, the Indian trader, 610. Feathers, beeswax, tallow, 33. Ferries at Rock River crossings, 147. Fierce assault upon Apple River fort, 123. Fired upon for stealing own corn, 95. First Baptist church of Belvidere, 329. First bridge connecting city and island, 230. First call to farmers of Rock County, 437. First cheese factory in Wisconsin, 248. First definite news of Black Hawk 's location, 109. First known settlers (Rock Co.), 374. First native white child of Valley, 72. First newspaper in Whiteside County, 639. First officers and legislation, 530. First private execution in Rock Island County, 304. First public land sale in Winnebago Countv, 1839, 472. First religious services in the Valley, 336. First Republican convention in Janesville, 215. First Rock Island County, The, 160. First schools in Madison, 308. First settlement of Beloit, 392. First settlement of Janesville, 376. First settlers of Stephenson County, 542. First settlers on site of Rochelle, 594. First steamboat to reach St. Louis, 219. First systematic water-power development, 256. First teachers and schools in Lee County, 317. First temperance paper in Wisconsin, 344. Fish with bows and arrows, 34. Five forts to help check Black Hawk, 107. Floor mats made by Squaws, 33. Fodder, corn, oats crops, 244. Forbes' army advances westward, 51. IXDKX 745 Ford, Thomas, 276; 292; estimate of, 193; of spy battalion, 87. Forerunners of stability, 137. Formation of Jefferson County, 152. Forsythe letter to Governor Clark, 81. Fori (Armstrong) evacuated, 703. Port Atkinson, City of, 4.36. Port Atkinson Democrat, 460. Port Chart res, 50. Fort Dearborn, 33. Fort Duquesne, 50. Port Edward, 51. Port Frontenao burned, 51. Port .Wo ssity, 50. Fort Niagara invested by British, 52. Fort placed in custody, 703. Fort William Henry, fall of, 51. Foundation laid of the Chicago & North- western system, 223. Foundation of Rockford industries, The, 482. Foundation of Wisconsin system (education), 307. Founding of Mount Morris, 588. Founders of the Bishop Hill colony, 661. Four-gemmed necklace of lakes, 4. Four lakes of Madison, The, 6. Fox chiefs spoke to the point, 44. Fox chiefs signing treaty of 1831, 94. Fox massacre of 1730, The, 47. Foxes a- mischief makers, 43. Foxes besieged at Butte dee Mortes, 45. Foxes quarrel with neighbors, 43. Foxes, Sauk, Mascoutin and Kiekapoos come to Wisconsin, 31. Foxes still bar the French, 46. Preeport, 262. • •it and Stephenson County institutions, 315. Preeport incorporated as a town, 554. Preeport of today, The, 562. Preeport selected as county seat, 546. Preeport'fl growth for forty years, 559. Free-state men declined to vote, 209. Fremont, John C, 206. French allowed "Christianized" Indians to kill Foxes, 48. French and English clash in Ohio valley, 49. French, Augustus C, 197. French form Indian alliance against Foxes. 46. French in contact with Sioux and Illinois, 39. From the Black Hawk war to county organ i/ation, 615. Frost. Arthur H., 276, 289. Fuller, Judge Allen C, 214, 277. Fuller, Charles E., 289. Fuller, Margaret, 577-580. Fulton and Edgerton, 428. Futile compromise, A, 634. Q Gaines and Reynolds relieve Indians' dis- tress, 94. Gaines, Gen. E. P., 85. Galena >* Chicago Union Railroad, The, 221. i lame abundant, 28. "Ganymede to Bis Eagle," 580. Gkarver, John C, 289. Genera] Gaines calls a council at Rock Island, 92. General Henry, hero of the war, 131. General shields, 203. Ceneseo replaces Richmond, 658. Geneseo Republican, .".54. Geological origin — see counties. Geology of Valley, 15 et seq. Gest, W. H., 276. Gilbert, Frank L., 282. Gill, Charles R,, 282. Godfather of Stephenson County, The, 54'_\ Goodell, Lavinia, 284. Governor Ford's description of Fort Arm- strong, 702. Governor Ford spurns repudiation, 193. Governor Harvey's war work, 427. Grand Detour region, The, 10. Gratiot's narrow escape, 105. Graves, Emery C, 276. Great crops of corn, oats, fodder, 244. Great Sauk village, The, 32. Great variety of wild animals, 24. Green Bay, Milwaukee & Chicago R. R., 224. Grimm, George, 282. H ' ' Had been told. Americans could not fight, ' ' 62. Hadley, Charles W., 304. Hamilton captured, 55. Hamilton trains six-pounder on entrance, 61. Hard roads, figures on, 236. Harkness, Mrs. Maria, 147. Harney, Wm. 8., 108. Harrison, William Henry, 58. Hauberg, John H., 55. Hazen, Chester, 248. Heard, Oscar E., 276. Ileaton, William W., 298. Heavy snow blocked trains, 204. Henry, Col. James D., 86. Henry County and its colonies, 320. Henry County churches — Kewanee, 336. Henry County, Illinois, 657. High bluffs around Janesville and Beloit, 8. High speed and maximum production, 713. History of Beloit college, 402. History of the dairy industries, 248. Hoard interests. The, 458. Hoard, W. D., 248. Hoard's Dairyman, 460. Holmes, William, 175. Home defense, The, 367. Home for Aged (Winnebago County), 519. Hopkins, James C, 282. Hostiles assembled near Dixon's Ferry, 108. How Judge Ford, of Oregon, became gov- ernor, 192. 746 INDEX How the Freeport Journal-Standard came to exist, 346. How the Valley came to be, 15. Hubbard, Gurdon S., 98. Huge log cabin at Springfield, 189. Hulett, Alta M., 292. Hunter, Maj. Gen. David, 189. Hurlbut, Stephen A., 196, 291. Hyzer, Edward, 284. Ideas of government, 36. Illinois and Michigan canal and the second Illinois Central, 187. Illinois & Wisconsin B, B. Co., 223. Illinois Central line in the upper Eock Elver Valley, 183. Illinois confederacy, 40. Illinois country refuses aid to Pontiac, 52. Illinois in the Civil war, 358. Illinois leads in hard-surfaced roads, 236. Illinois' participation in the World war, 362. Illinois- plank roads, 233. Illinois railroad system, 228. Illinois school funds, The, 312. Illinois state university established, 686. Illinois system of free schools, 312. Illinois the state champion of railroads, 182. Improvements centering in Freeport, 1838-40, 549. In contact with the Sauk and Foxes, 42. Incorporated as a city (Morrison), 645. Incorporated as a village (Dixon), 620. Incorporated as a town (Dixon), 621. Incorporators of canal company, 220. Indian allies deserted French, 52. Indian, drunk, wanted to fight, 144. Indian mounds, 26. Indian naturally generous, 35. Indians amiable, honest, hospitable, 38. Indians eat bark of trees, 129. Indians cruel to captives, 36. Indians fond of joke, 37. Indians precede Pilgrims with Thanksgiving day, 29. Indians shoot son of De Villiers, 49. Indians taught self-reliance, 36. Indian traders, 127. Indian treaties following War of 1812, 70. Industrial Beloit of yesterday and today, 413. Industries and banks, 255. Inlet swamp project, The, 250. Inman, John, 175. Institution opened in Chicago (Augustana college), 686. Insubordination and success, 129. In the secession movement, 474. Isaac Chambers and John Ankney, 148. Jackson, Andrew, 71. Jackson talks to Black Hawk, 133. Janesville incorporated as a city, 382. Janesville in the Civil war, 38o. Janesville development, 378. Jansonists leave Scandinavia, 664. Jean Nicolet and the Winnebago, 40. Jefferson County Union, The, 460. Jefferson County formed in 1836, 176. Jefferson County, .Wisconsin, 452. Jenny Lind assists, 684. John Dement, of Lee County, 196. John Phelps and Oregon vs. John Dixon and Dixon's Ferry, 574. Johnston, Albert Sidney, 103. Jonathan Carver and Model Sauk village, 53. Jones, Burr W., 281. Jordan, Col. Harry B., 715. Journal-Standard, The, 346. Judge George Grimm on judicial conciliation, 284. Judges and leading lawyers of Eock Island County, 300. Judges of election, 157. Judiciary of Illinois, The, 276. Juneau, Solomon, 33, 176. Kable Brothers, The, 348. Kane, Kate, 284. Kaskaskias, 40. Kellogg and Bolles trails, The, 573. Kellogg, Oliver W., 146, 220. Kemble, John C, 290. Kent, Germanieus, 466. Keokuk addressed chiefs, 63 ; and the Sauk at Prairie du Chien, 78; again America's good Indian genius, 79 ; and Wapello at council, 92; asks, "Why do you not let us fight?" 97; delivers speech that blocks Black Hawk scheme, 101. Kewanee, 262, 674. Kewanee newspapers and the Star-Courier, 353. Keynote interior county, The, 604. Kiala, Fox chief, a scapegoat, 48. Kickapoos on Fox Eiver, 32. King, Angie, 284. King, Col. D. M., 716. Knodle Brothers found Eock Eiver Eegister, 347. "Know that the Beynard is immortal," 44. La Follette, Eobert M., 283. Lake Koshkonong reached July 4, 125. Lake Wingra, 8. Land and its making, The, 3. Land grant of 140,000 acres, 221. Landis, Kenesaw Mountain, 119. Land office moved from Galena to Dixon, 174. Lands common property. 35. Langlade, Charles, 51. La Porte, Pierre, 73. IXDKX 747 La Sallier (La Bailer), 73, L38. Last attempt to break Keokuk's power, 100. Last days of the Sank warrior, 134. I. at haui, Judge, 147. Lathrop, William, :290. Laws of the colony, The, <>70. Lawyers of Whiteside and Henry counties, 298. Leaders in Rock County, early, 21 G. Lecompton convention, Tie', 208. Lee Center academy, 318. Le Claire, Antoine, interpreter, 93. Lee County, 604. Lee County as a supply of circuit judges, 297. Lee County, last, political division of Valley, 171. l.i e County whigs first propose Taylor for president, 198. Legislative districting, 198. Legislative representation, 162. Leland, Edward S., 292. Leverette on Illinois formation, 18. Liberty loans and other contributions, '.)*'>'>, 369.' Library and institutions (Eockford), 519. Col. Daniel, 87. Lincoln, Abraham, 108. Lincoln in Ogle County, 206. Lincoln prevents murder of Indian, 120. Lincoln was last speaker, 206. Little Bear adopts St. Vrain, 119. Lively county seat contest in "Whiteside, 163. Live stock of the Valley, The, 245. Live stock facts and figures, by counties, 244. Longfellow on four lakes, 4. Long, Maj. S. II., 77. Looney, John, 304. Loop, James L., 291. Lorado Taft's statue of Black Hawk, 582. Lutheranism in Winnebago County, 320. Lyndon again to the front, 634. Lyndon and Tampico, 652. M McAdams, Clark, 27. MoCulloch, Catherine Waugh, 292. Mack, Stephen, 138, 570. Made principal chief of Sauk nation, 63. Madison a natural religious center, 324. Madison & Beloit R. R. Co., 223. Madison Express, The, 341. Madison, the territorial capital, founded, 176. Madison, Wisconsin, 444. Madison's first newspaper, 341. Major Long expedition, The, 77. Manlove, Ja.mes C, 290. Manufactories of Beloit, 413-421. Manufacturing centers of Valley, 256. Manufacturing growth of Rockford, 510. Margaret Puller's pen picture, 12. Margaret Fuller's visit, to Oregon, 577. Marking and signing highways, 238. Marquette, JacqueB, 42. Martin, Professor, on Sahara river, 16. Maryland colony, The, Massacre near mouth of Bad Axe, 129. Massacre of Foxes ami Mascouten, 4:;. .Masters, Capt. Robert, 176. Mats carried as baggage, 35. Mats handsome and durable, 33. Medicine men judge ball games, 30. Me se, William A., 205, 300. Meeting at Freeport, The, 211. Members of the Supreme Court from the Val- ley. 276. Memorial Boulders, 585. Methodists and pioneer parsonage, 326. Mexican war fought and won, 197. Mexican war, The, 357. Migration of Indians, 31. Military personnel, Rock Island post, 714. Military prison, The (1863-5), 708. Miller, Jacob, 190. Milton, 432. Milwaukee & Mississippi R. R., 224. Milwaukee & Rock River canal project, 220. Milwaukee & Waukesha R, R, Co., 224. Mink, otter, wildcat skins, 33. Minor points, Rock Island County, 727. Missionaries of Whiteside County at Propli- etstown, 334. Missionary work of Rev. Aratus Kent in Northwestern Illinois, 330. Mitchigamies, 40. Moline, 258. Moline as a corporation, 724. Moline churches, 339. Moline Dispatch, The, 356. Moline newspapers, 725. Moline Water Power Co., 706. Montgomery, Col. John, 55. Morrison, Charles, 645. Morrison Municipal building, 648. Morrison of the present, 646. Moses, Judge John, on convention at Bloom- ington, 204. Mounds along shores of Lake Koshkonong, 26. Mounds on Turtle Creek, 26. Mount Morris, 262. Murder of Col. George Davenport ; 301. Murder of Eric Janson, The, 668. Murder of St. Vrain, 119. Museum, The (Augustana college), 690. Muskrat, bear, raccoon skins, 33. Muster out of volunteers, 120. ' ' My duty to call volunteers to move In- dians, " 85. "My reason teaches me that land cannot be sold," 88. N Name and organization of Whiteside County, 631. Names of witnesses, treaty of 1831, 94. Xeap ires British support, 101. 748 INDEX New bridge between Bock Island and Daven- port, 710. New England Emigration Society, 393. New Seminary buildings, The (Augustana college), 692. Newspapers and banks, Bock Island, 722. Newspapers of Polo, Oregon and Boehelle, 349. New stronghold in Mississippi Valley, 698. Newton academy, 314. New volunteer army of three thousand, 121. Nogle, David, 284. North Dixon and the Dixon air line, 622. Northern Illinois boundary disturbs, 155. Northern Illinois foremost in founding sys- tem, 313. Northern Illinois growing in political in- fluence, 202. Northwestern College and Jefferson Institute, 309. Notables in legislature of 1836, 181. Notables who stopped at Dixon cabin, 150. Noted Bishop Hill murder, The, 299. Noted campaign of 1840, The, 187. ' Noted churches of Bock Island, 336. Noted figures of Bock County and the twelfth circuit, 284. Not one white survived, 113. Now comes the city of Dixon, 622. Nucleus of settlement, A, 703. O Oats, corn, fodder crops, 244. O'Connor, James L., 282. Officers elected for Bock Island County, 160. Officers of pursuit expedition, 107. Ogden, Wm. B., 223. Ogee, Joseph, 147. Ogle a fine live stock county, 601. Ogle County, 568. Ogle County formed, 158, 575. Ohio Company, The, 50. Old and new Henry County, 165. Oldest newspaper in the Valley, 341. Old Henry County, 657. Old Pottawatomie, tired and hungry, 120. Olmstead, Bobert W., 304. Olson succeeds Janson, 668. Oneco, 550. One Hundred Twenty-third Heavy Field Ar- tillery, 364. One of the largest of Swedish Lutheran churches, 329. On trackless snow-covered prairie, 76. Opposition to slavery extension in Illinois, 199. Orangeville, 550. Oregon as described by Colonel Sheets, 577. Oregon of the present, 584. Oregon selected as county seat, 575. Organization of Stephenson County, 545. Organizers, Dairymen 's association, 248. Original election precincts, 546. Origin of republican party, 199. Origin of the waterways, 4. Orton, Harlow S., 280. Other cases and crimes, 304. Other Madison newspapers, 342. Other newspapers in southern Wisconsin, 344. Other newspapers of Ogle County, 348. Other pioneers of Grand Detour region, 571. Other religious bodies, 325. Other towns of Winnebago County, 524. Other villages, 436. Ottawa appeared obdurate, 42. Otter, mink, wildcat skins, 33. Outside of Belvidere, 538. Outside of Kewanee, 676. Palmer, John M., 206. Palmyra, Wisconsin, 460. Panic of 1857, The, 560. Paper town of Bansomberg, The, 543. Parade, scenes of east fill Black Hawk with awe, 134. Paw Paw Grove and villages, 616. Paxton period, The, 687. Pecatoniea, 520. Pecatonica river, 7. Peck, George B., 284. Peck, George W., 344. Peck once on Jefferson County Bepublican, 344. Pen picture by Margaret Puller, 12. Pen picture of present-day arsenal, 720. People's Power Co., 706. Peorias, 40. "Perfectionists," The, 599. Period leading to Dixon 's cityhood, 619. Permanent settlers and settlements, 542. Persons, places, events, in the Valley, 728-740. Physical features of Boone, 526. Physical Lee County, 606. Picture of primitive Indian life, 34. Pierre Laporte, 137. Pike, Zebulon, 59; the, steamboat, 219; de- scribed the Bocky Island, 700. Pine Bock, 12. Pinney, Silas U., 281. Pioneer Agricultural Society, 638. Pioneer banks in Valley, 264. Pioneer churches, Jefferson County, 454. Pioneer churches of Grand Detour and Ore- gon, 332. Pioneer schools of Belvidere, 314. Pioneers of Jefferson and Hickoiy Groves, 594. Pioneer steamboat arrived at New Orleans, 219. Pioneer Women lawyers, 284. Pleasants, G. W., 276. Plot confessed, 62. Plow City, The, 723. Plow works established, 571. Polish claims, The, 479. INI) E X 749 Political Dodge County and its leaders, 216, Political evolution of Illinois Bock River Valley, 156. Politics involved with internal improvements plan, 185. Politics of Southern Wisconsin, The, 1214. Politics prior to the Civil war, 179. Politics since 1 Stil (Winnebago Co.), 515. Pontine makes peace with British, 52. Pontine - s War of L761 65, 52. PoqiK'tU', Pierre, Scout, 125. Port Byron publications, 356. Posey's brigade reaches fort, 125. war acti\ ities | arsenal) , 716. Pottawatomi at GTeen Hay, 31. Prairie, with timber convenient, 23. Prehistoric occupancy shown, 25. Prehistoric remains, 27. Present status and molding forces (Augus- tana College), 695. Present status i Arsenal), 716. initial elections of the '50s, 181. President Taylor orders sale of island, 705. Press of Belvidere, The, 350. Press of the Valley, The, 340. Primitive inhabitants of Valley, 24. Printing and publishing house of the Kable brothers. 348. Private claim to water power not contested, 706. Proclaims policy of non-resistance, 90. Progressive dissolution, 671. Progressive organization of the townships, 628. Prominence of the Ilitts, 589. Prominent men from mining country at Dixon 's Perry, 109. Prophet probably induced Black Hawk to commit overt act, 97. Prophet saves Gratiot, 106. Prophetstown, 650. Prospect Hock, 11. Pyesa killed, ."id. Q Quaife on origin of Republican party, 200. Quaife 's account of Pox Massacre, 44. Quashquame and PashepaJho, 61. i; Racine, .!•■ svillo & Mississippi R. R. Co., 224. Railroad saved by counties of upper Valley, 222. Raccoon, muskrat, bear skins, 33. Radical change took place, 16. Railroad History, 191. Rainstorm raises siege, 47. Ramsay, Frank I)., 276. Rawlins, John A., 214. Real birth of Republicanism, 203. Real permanent County Seat, 635. Real pioneers of the Valley, 72. Real town of Preeport, The, 544. Reclamation of Illinois overflowed lands, 249. Rector to rescue, 66. Red Bird imprisoned, 79. Red men of the Valley, 28. Register-Gazette, The, 34t>. Regulars and volunteers again organize, 104. Regulars and volunteers disperse, 95. Regulators organized, 293. Reorganization of pursuit expedition, 106. Reorganized county government, The, 481. Republican state convention nominates Lin- coln for Senate, 210. Rescue of Campbell, 66. Respect for volunteer horsemen, 93. Reunited army under Atkinson in pursuit, 115. Rev. Barton Cartwright, 332. Rev. John G. Alleman and Catholicism, 337. Rev. Moses Ordway comes to Beaver Dam, 325. Rev. N. J. Stroh, 332. Reward offered for Driscolls, 478. Reward offered for Hall girls, 119. Reynolds, Governor, 104. Reynolds, John, 65. Reynolds sends rangers after Black Hawk, 110. Riches of the Soil, The, 240. Ridott, 558. Riggs, Lieutenant, 65. Riley, Maj. Bennet, 107. Rival pioneer Inn keepers, 146. Rivalry between Dtixon and Oregon, 158. Road improvements, 470. Robison, John K., 150. Rochelle, 262. Rock City, 557. Rock County a Whig and Republican strong- hold, 215. Rock County, Wisconsin, 371. Rock County, Wisconsin, formed, 175. Rock Falls, 639. Rockford, 256. Rockford and music, 516. Rockford Boy's Club, 519. Rockford female seminary, 311. Rockford incorporate'! as a village and city, 474. Rockford Morning Star and J. Stanley Browne, 346. Rockford parks and recreational facilities, 518. Rockford 's pioneer newspapers wrecked, 345. Rockford women lawyers, 2'.il'. Rock Island, 258. Rock Island & Peoria R. R., 227. Rock Island ArgUS and I'nion, .'i.~>4. Rock [sland Arsenal, The, 698. Rock Island County established politically, 682. Rock [sland County hotbed of abolitionism, 205. 750 INDEX Rock Island County, Illinois, 680. Rock Island newspapers, pioneers of the Val- ley, 354. Rock Island's schools, 683. Roek River Assembly, The, 334. Rock River drainage, 250. Rock River drainage system, 7. Rock River farms, The, 603. Roek River Register, The, 347. Rock River Seminary, 589. Roek River Seminary and Mount Morris Col- lege, 316. Roek River, Sources of the, 4. Roek River Valley of "Wisconsin, 359. Rock River Valley Union Ry. Co., 223. Rockton, 520. Rogers, Maj. Robert, 52. Roscoe, 522. Rosenberry, Marvin B., 279. Rush of Missionaries to Inlet, Lee County, 333. S St. Bernard's Catholic Church, Watertown, 325. Sauk and Foxes divided in fealty, 58. Sauk camp in dispute, 117. Sauk chiefs who signed treaty (1831), 94. Sauk-F'ox Alliance cemented, 48. Sauk warriors, women and children cross the Wisconsin, 129. Savanna Proving Ground, The, 714. Scalps of murdered families found in village, 118. Schillenberger, George, 148. Scholastic expansion (Augustana), 694. Schoolcraft describes canoe trip, 78. Schools of Roekford, The, 313. Scope of (Augustana) Institution, 695. Scott visits Father Dixon, 153. Semi-Centennial Celebration, 673. Settlement before Black Hawk war, 608. Settlement grows, The, 666. Siege of twenty-three days, 47. Simple location of County Seat, 658. Singular physical fact, 3. Shabbona faithful to U. S. 98; Shabbona Grove, 98; had fine memory, 98. Shabbona 's service, 116. Shackles, bolt and chain, 171. Sheldon, Benjamin R., 288. Shopiere, 425. Shreve, Captain, 219. Sinews of War, The, 365. Sinnissippi farm, 602. Site of Bishop Hill Colony selected, 665. Sloan, A. Scott, 282. Sloan, I. C, 284. Smart, Josiah, 100. Smith, George B., 282. Sn el ling, Colonel, 73. Snyder, Capt. Adam W., 192. Sobering effect on volunteers, 114. Social and Benevolent orders, 697. Societies (Rock Island), 697. Soldiers would murder aged Indian with safe. conduct, 120. Sold "Suckers" goods and ferried them, 145. Sources of the Rock River, 4. Southwick, Edward, 296. Southern Wisconsin, richest dairy country in the world, 246. Spanish-American War, The, 361. Spencer, Judge J. W., 145. Spy battalion sent to Kellogg 's Grove, 124. Spy battalion surprised by the Sauk, 124. Squatter Sovereignty, 471. Star Courier, The, 353. State and County fairs attractive, 243. State Militia promptly respond, 85. State troops leave heavy baggage behind, 108. State Trunk Highway System (Wis.), 237. State University (Wisconsin), 308. Steady growth, Beloit's, 412. Stephen Mack, the first settler, 463. Stephenson becomes Rock Island, 682. Stephenson County, agriculturally, 566. Stephenson County, Illinois', 540. Sterling and Rock Falls, 260, 639. Sterling Gazette, The, 352. Sterling holds the county seat for eight years, 635. Sterling Times, The, 351. Stevens' account of Battle of Wisconsin Heights, 127. Stevens' "Black Hawk War," 61. Stevens, E. Ray, 282. Story of Roekford Seminary and College, 494. Stoughton and outside villages, 444. Street, Joseph M., 96. Strength of Illinois Indians in 1809, 60. Stillman, Maj. Isaiah, 104. Stillman starts for Old Man's Creek, 111. Strode, Col. Jas. M., 114. Structural expansion at Rock Island, 688. Stuart, William, 189. Stumbling blocks to original plan, 704. Suspension of specie payments, 183. Swamp lands of Whiteside County, 636. Swedish-American newspapers, 355. Swedish element in population, 520. Tallow, feathers, beeswax, 33. Tamaroas, 40. Tampico, 652. Tampico Tornado, The, 353. Taxes and Wealth of Stephenson Countv in 1838, 549. Taylor, Lieut. Col. Zachary, 104. Taylor's report to General Howard, 68. Then Sterling gains a point, 632. Thiebault, or Thiebeau, 141. Third and Sixth regiments, The, 361. Thirty-second Division at the front, .'567. Thirty-third Division at the front, The, 363. Thomas, L. G., 248. IXDKX 751 Thompson, Floyd B., 276. Three bullets hit Dement, L24. Three congressional districts, L62. Three of the outlaws publicly bung, :i02. Throckmorton disregards white Hag, 130. Through two decades, 623. Thwaites on Nioolet'a travels, 41. Ties that bind, The, 21s. Topography and drainage (Book OOb), 373. "To the woods," 76. T wn platted < Belvidere), 529. Township organization (Whiteside Oounty), 635. Townships of R-ock Island County, 727. Towns projected in Winnebago County, 474. Tragedy of Indian lover's spring, 30. Tragically lonesome woman, A, 14.". Trails for the lead region, 146. Trails lead to Sauk Village, 32. Traveler of 1836, A, 1 1. Treaties growing out of the war, 132. Treaties made by the U. S., 463. Treaty of 1804, The, 58. Treaty signed June 30, 1831, 93. Trenton limestone predominates, 19. Trials of Rock Island vice gang, 304. Tribes and numbers (1809), 61. Tri-City organizations, 697. Troops ready to force Black Hawk from Illinois, 107. Turner, Thomas J., 547. Turtle Village, 118. Two cities in a nutshell, 644. Two kinds of houses, :C>. Tyrrell, Squire, X. «'., 205. U Unique fifoline Weekly, 356. Upper Valley strongly Whig, 189. r. s. Commission to conclude peace treaties, 70. Valley a horn of plenty, 240. Valley counties' contributions to war fund, 365, 369. Valley from Oregon to Dixon, The, 10. Valley in four wars, The, 357. Valley regiments, The, 358. Van Buren Legislature of 1836, The, 181. Various railroads organized or built, 225. View f Rockford in 1844, A, 186. Vilas, William P., 283. Village of Fulton. The, 638. Village of Lane, forerunner of Roehelle, 596. Village of Lena, The, 556. Village of Winelow, The, 552. Village once a trade and industrial Cl 572. Village site of < larramana, 26. Villages, Dane County, 444. Villages in the northern and northwi sections, I Villages, Later, of Stephenson County, 558. Villages, Leading outside, 626. Villages, Other, 436. Visiting Nurse Association, 519. Volunteers camp above Prophetstown, 108. W Wabokiesshiek, 90. Wage earners, products, etc., 1920 census, 256. Wakefield, Maj. J. A., 108. Walking Turtle, 26. Warned, saved from massacre, 61. War fund contributions, 365, 368. Warrior's defense, The, 89. War subscriptions, arsenal employees, 714. Washlburn (E. B.) first Republican congres- sional candidate, 201. Washington attacked in revenge for death of de Villiers, 50. Washington's men kill de Villiers, 50. Water courses and drainage, 630. Waterloo, Wisconsin, 460. Water power, the decisive factor, 718. Watertown, 455. Watertown Recorder, The, 343. Waterways, Origin of the, 4. Weapons from animal bones, 34. Webb, James Watson, 73. Webb's trip down the Vallev, 73. Wells, Daniel, 176. Wentworth, John, 207. Western Union Railroad, 224. Wet blankets on fort top, 125. What the Ford administration accomplished, 194. Where the river enters Illinois, 8. Whig convention at Dixon's Ferry, 191. Whigs criticised convention system, 181. White Beaver, The, 103. White Cloud, 97. White Cloud, Whirling Thunder and Spotted Arm to seek Hall girls, 119. White Crow receives captives, 117. White, Dr. Horace, 393. Whitehead, John M., 284. White pine woods of Ogle County, The, 12. White settlers to l)e removed, 59. Whiteside brigadier general of volunt 108. Whiteside, Captain, 69. Whiteside County, 630. Whiteside County in the forming, 163. Whiteside County in the wars, 653. Whiteside County *s earliest newspapers, 350. Whiteside County teachers and institutions, 319. Whiteside, Maj. Samuel, 87. Whiteside Sentinel and Charles Bent, 352, Whiteside Sentinel, The, 650. Whiteside's standing agriculturally, 656. Whitney, Charles II.. Whitney, Daniel EL, 170. 752 INDEX Whiton, Edward V., Chief Justice, 280. "Who is Black Hawk?" 92. Wildcat, mink, otter skins, 33. Wilkinson, Ira O., 302. Wilson puts new boats in service, 220. Winans, John, 284. Winnebago, 523. Winnebago County, Illinois, 462. Winnebago Farm School, 519. Winnebago Indians (Rock Co.), 373. Winnebago in State Constitutional Conven- tion, 481. Winnebagoes in disastrous wars, 31. Winnebago war, origin of, 79. Witnesses to treaty of 1831, 94. Wisconsin cheese and butter shown at Cen- tennial Exposition, 1876, 248. Wisconsin Dairymen's Ass'n, 248. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, 242. Wisconsin Enquirer, The, 341. Wisconsin enters the World war, 366. Wisconsin Judiciary, The, 279. Wisconsin's Constitutional Convention solves difficulty, 156. Wisconsin's encouragement of State Fairs, 243. Wisconsin's first benevolent institution, 310. Wisconsin's highways, 237. Women superintendents of schools, 315. Woods and groves of Ogle County attract settlement, 570. Working Girls' Home (Rockford), 519. World war contributions (loans), 365, 369. World war period, The (Augustana Synod), 692. Worn out and starving, 129. Wright, Robert W., 289. Yalhara, The, 6. Yarns from underwool, 37. Yates, Governor, 277. Young Women's Christian Ass'n ; 519. Zachary Taylor in command of regulars, 107. Zachary Taylor's Expedition turned back, 67. ***< *»\ ■k jy* ^fe< >r ^ 4 K^i r *idT * K ^ir a r-